Gensokyo Untold
by Lt Colonel Summers
Summary: Gensokyo was always known to its residents as a technologically anachronistic Sanctuary where the population is almost-entirely female... Or was it? As Kanako Yasaka soon learns from the other Old Maids (and Youki Konpaku) in an annual gathering, Gensokyo wasn't always what it was today... A pseudo-prequel to Fantasy Blitzkrieg.
1. Prologue

**Forewords**

"Oh, look! Another fan fic by Lt Col Summers! Another _Touhou_ fic to be exact!" Some of you might say.

However, despite the different name, this story is still in the same universe as _Fantasy Blitzkrieg_ , its just a pseudo-prequel in which the events predates even _Highly Responsive To Prayers_. Actually, the events to be told in this story has nothing to do with _Fantasy Blitzkrieg_ other than being in the same universe.

Remember one of Reimu's sentences in Chapter 17 of _Fantasy Blitzkrieg: Mission 3_? The one where she mentions Wonderland and Oz having embassies in Gensokyo and the UN expy that is the Council Of Sanctuaries? Well, this story will be revolving around its origin, and the events that led to it.

Remember, since this story predates even _Highly Responsive To Prayers_ , don't expect any mention of the HMF or the STI in it. Gensokyo has yet to involve itself with Outside World matters in this pseudo-prequel.

* * *

 **Prologue**

Time: 4th of February, 2118.

Location: Dining Hall, Shinki's Palace; Pandemonium, Makai, Gensokyo.

Few people in Gensokyo knows this, but on the 4th of February every year, the older individuals of Gensokyo's almost-entirely female population would gather in one place and discuss their plans for the current year. Exactly why this happens, even fewer people knew the reason behind it, but officially it was sort of similar to a school reunion, despite some of the individuals present having only arrived in Gensokyo a few months ago.

This year, the "reunion" is held in Shinki's Palace in Pandemonium, largest city in the state of Makai in Gensokyo.

"So... why was Makai considered a province of Gensokyo?" Kanako Yasaka, current resident goddess of the Moriya Shrine asked while half-drunk. "In my opinion, Makai kind of *hic* deserved to be an independent Sanctuary in its own *hic* right..." The goddess succumbed to the powers of alcohol and fell asleep on the Onyx dining table as soon as she finishes her sentence.

This prompted Yukari Yakumo, the Youkai Of Boundaries to whack Kanako on the back of her head with her fan. "I'm surprised that you got drunk after just one small mug worth of Whiskey, which were like plain water compared to Sake..." Yukari mocked the goddess. "Also, that's like saying Mugenri is a People's Republic..."

Kanako did not respond, although getting whacked did wake her up.

"Mugenri? The only Sanctuary in the world that's actually ruled by a dictator?" Reimu, who was (forcefully) dragged into the gathering by Yukari said as she overheard what the Youkai Of Boundaries said. "I kind of pity Yabusame Houren for the things she get put through, especially what happened at the previous embassy dinner..."

Yukari gently tapped the red-white shrine maiden's head with her fan. "Now, Reimu dear, remember the bet we had before coming here..." Saying that, Yukari pointed at the red-white maid outfit Reimu was forced to wear.

"You're hopeless..." The red-white complained before walking out of the dining room.

"Yukari, you haven't changed one bit in the last 10 years..." Shinki pointed out, before taking a sip from her cup of Sake.

"For once, I agree with the demon goddess..." Mima was also there, and she too pointed out on the same thing.

Yukari pretends she didn't hear anything, and continues with her drink. When she notices that the mug is already empty, the Youkai Of Boundaries simply opened a gap, reached into it, and pulled out what appeared to be a bottle of Brandy, which she refills the mug with.

Kanako, still in a drunken state, scanned around the dining hall to see who else were present. Aside from herself, Yukari, Mima and Shinki, the others present at the gathering were: Yuyuko Saigyouji who is wolfing down a big bowl of ramen (and that's the _tenth_ bowl already), and Eirin Yagokoro who is the only one that sat by herself while saying nothing.

"Shinki..." Kanako tries to get the demon goddess's attention. "Is there anyone who hasn't *hic* arrived yet?"

"Oh, now that you mention it..." Shinki suddenly remembers that there were absentees in the gathering, and called out to her maid, "Yumeko, is there anyone who hasn't arrived yet?"

Yumeko the demon maid suddenly materialized next to the demon goddess, holding a checklist in her hands. "Shinki-sama, I have exactly three absentees on this list: Kazami Yuuka-san who has declined to come to the gathering, Hijiri Byakuren-san who sent a message saying that she will be running late, and Konpaku Youki-san..."

Youki Konpaku, the half-ghost master samurai arrived just in time. He said nothing about the gathering or why he came late, as he politely sat himself down the nearest chair he could find, which happened to be next to Yuyuko.

"...Who have only just arrived..." Yumeko continues as she checks the half-ghost's name on the list.

Youki elected to pour tea from the teapot (which was meant for Byakuren, as she and her followers do not consume alcohol) into a cup and took a small sip from it before saying "I apologize for being late..."

With that done, Shinki dismissed Yumeko who bowed politely before literally disappearing in the blink of an eye.

"I think we can start talking about our resolution now, seeing that two of us will be absent this year..." Yukari told everyone in a half-drunken state.

Mima the evil spirit had beat the Youkai Of Boundaries to it. "This year, I am going to make Marisa more like a proper lady!" Mima declares loudly, also in a half-drunken state.

The dining hall became so silent, one could hear what is going on outside the room.

"I don't know what part of that witch do you not consider ladylike enough..." Yukari tries (and fails) at coming up with a mock. "Other than her outfit, of course..."

Mima face-palmed upon hearing that. "The earrings she wears. Those aren't the kind a proper lady would wear, especially not ladies with pointed ears..." The evil spirit then turns toward Yukari. "What are your resolutions?"

Yukari spent some time thinking up her answer, but instead... "To be honest... I've got nothing..." In embarrassment, the Youkai Of Boundaries downed the entire mug of Brandy in about two gulps. "So I've *hic* decided... My resolution for this year is to *hic* come up with a reasonable *hic* resolution for next year..."

Everyone turned toward Eirin Yagokoro. Now its the moon doctor's turn.

"I am still trying to get Kaguya-sama to stop spending her time and credit cards on video games..." Eirin gave a straightforward answer, as she takes another sip from her cup.

It was now Yuyuko's turn. "I'm going to..."

The ghost princess was interrupted mid sentence by Mima. "Let me guess: eat more?"

"Not that one." Yuyuko contradicted, much to everyone's surprise. "That's last year's. This year, I'm going to go on a diet instead."

It was technically Youki's turn next, but everyone elected to let him pass since he never needed a New Year resolution before. Instead...

"I've always wanted to see how well Yumeko-chan fares against that vampire's maid." Shinki announces her intention for the year. "Maybe that will be my resolution: to see the two maids duking it out in the most elegant way possible."

After the demon goddess has had her turn, everyone turned toward the one person who has yet to take hers: Kanako Yasaka.

"What...?" Kanako responded in a drunken state. "Don't you all know what my resolutions are?"

"Nope." Yukari replies with a straightforward answer.

"Not me~" So does Yuyuko.

"Not everyone knows what you were planning, since you've only just arrived in Gensokyo months ago..." Eirin gave a not-so-straightforward one.

"Wizards may be capable of many things, but mind-reading certainly isn't one of mine." Mima answered.

"I'm quite interested to hear about it~" Shinki said.

Youki said nothing in regards to the matter.

Kanako stared at everyone, sighed once, before saying, "I guess I should announce my resolution instead of letting you all guess it..."

...

Reimu was just going back to the dining hall, carrying with her a tray holding one bottle of wine and several wine glasses. The red-white mumbled as she walked down the corridor toward the dining hall.

"Why did I even play by that Gap Hag's rules in that bet? I should've remembered that she never plays fair. And also, I don't like this maid outfit..."

The red-white shrine maiden reached the dining hall, and was about to push the door open until something made her stop.

The dining hall was filled with loud chatters several minutes ago, but now it is completely silent.

Wondering what the people inside were up to, Reimu pushed the door open anyway...

"Did I miss something while I was gone?"

...

Reimu, in fact, did miss something. That "something" can be indicated by everyone staring at Kanako with the shocked look (even Mima and Shinki, to her surprise).

Yukari straightened herself and cleared her throat before she told Reimu, "Leave that tray by the table with the flower pot, Reimu. After that, could you excuse us all for the next few hours?"

Reimu wondered what had Kanako said that made the Youkai Of Boundaries behave like that, but did what she was told to anyway. "I guess its something I'm not old enough to chime in, right? Well, I was going to excuse myself afterwards, anyway..." With that done, Reimu turned around and walked out of the dining hall.

Everyone wait a few seconds before turning back toward Kanako, still with that look of surprise on their face.

"Did you know _what_ you've just said?" Yukari asked sternly, which was a massive difference from her usual self.

"This is not the first time a similar sentence has been uttered in Gensokyo." Even Yuyuko has suddenly become serious about things.

Kanako looked at everyone with confusion, and then asked "Was what I just said actually that serious of a matter?"

Mima stabbed her magical knife into the dining table in response. "It is..." There was anger written all over the evil spirit's face. "That was the very reason I've became an evil spirit..."

Shinki being serious makes the atmosphere all the more creepy, despite Makai itself already having a creepy atmosphere. "What you've just suggested was against the Neverland Convention, an agreement between Sanctuaries so serious that it made the Outside World's Geneva Convention look like nothing."

Kanako became evermore confused about the situation. "Why? Was there anything wrong with..."

Surprisingly, Youki was the one who interrupted the goddess. "Enough..." The half-ghost master samurai said, before turning toward Yukari. "Yakumo-dono, perhaps you should explain to Yasaka-dono why the very speech she have just uttered is a taboo in Gensokyo..."

Kanako finally understood why everyone looked at her like that, but the goddess still has a question to ask. "But why the Neverland Convention?"

"Let Yukari answer that question for you..." Eirin cuts in without looking at anyone. The moon doctor just stared at her cup while thinking of something from the past.

Yukari cleared her throat again, and started her explanation to Kanako.

"It was exactly 50 years ago on this day that the Council Of Sanctuaries and Neverland Convention was formed. But the true reason for its formation dates back to the two months following it. Back then, Gensokyo has no such thing as Spell Card Rules or the Non-Fatal Combat Clause, more like a dystopia than a utopia... and its population wasn't almost-entirely female..."

* * *

 **Afterwords**

Okay, the prologue itself took place just seven years before _Fantasy Blitzkrieg: Mission One_ , not far enough in the past to play out the pseudo-prequel I'm talking about. But that's for working up to the point where the actual story can be conveyed. The actual story of this pseudo-prequel takes place in, as Yukari just told Kanako, 50 years in the past.

Some of you might be wondering: "What the Makai is this Neverland Convention, and what does _Peter Pan_ have to do with it?" The answer: its to the Council of Sanctuaries what the Geneva Convention is to the United Nations. And also, Peter Pan has absolutely nothing to do with it, I just need a parallel of Geneva, Switzerland to form the Convention, and Neverland seemed to fit the bill quite well (in my opinion, anyway).

Another question some of you might be asking as well: "Marisa has pointy ears?! I though she's like any other humans in canon?!" My answer: well, it seems that PC-98 Marisa _did_ have pointy ears (as a result of ZUN's original art style, perhaps), and also that almost every fan art of PC-98 Marisa where the artist even bothered to draw ears portrayed her with pointy ears. So in my headcanon, Marisa ended up having pointy ears. The reason this wasn't mentioned in _Fantasy Blitzkrieg_ is because it was too irrelevant to the storyline to worth mentioning. Don't worry, despite having pointy ears, she is still human in my headcanon, the rest of this story will explain it via a fictional ethnicity.

By ethnicity, I am referring to things such as the difference between regular Americans and African-Americans (minus the racism).

Last but not least, what was the bet between Reimu and Yukari that forced the red-white shrine maiden to dress up as a maid? That is more of a Noodle Incident, so it is up to your imagination.

Shout-out index:

"...Mugenri...Yabusame Houren..." - Are you surprised with a _Len'En Project_ reference? As with Genskyo, Wonderland, and Oz, Mugenri also fitted the bill of being a Sanctuary in my headcanon. Note that in _Len'En Project_ 's canon, the characters' genders were deliberately left vague by Jynx (right down to giving then gender-neutral names), and its only because the guys at both _Maidens Of The Kaleidoscope_ and the _Let's Danmaku_ forum assuming Yabusame being female that I thought of making Mugenri to be a reverse-Gensokyo in that its an almost-entirely male society with her as one of the few female residents.

That is all. _"Until then..."_


	2. Chapter 1: In The Beginning

**Forewords**

Before you continue, I would like to remind you that this story will throw about 90% of _Touhou_ canon out of the window.

If you are a fanatic that disallows any part of canon to be deconstructed or modified, then I suggest you to stop reading this Forewords section and save yourself some time and Internet Bandwidth costs by not posting a rage comment in the Reviews section.

Raging fanatic fans and their rage comments on how Fan Fics should stick with canon will not be tolerated. How will you react if your fan fics were given similar comments?

* * *

 **Chapter 1: In The Beginning...**

 _"It was exactly 50 years ago on this day that the Council Of Sanctuaries and Neverland Convention was formed. But the true reason for its formation dates back to the two months following it. Back then, Gensokyo has no such thing as Spell Card Rules or the Non-Fatal Combat Clause, was more like a dystopia than a utopia... and its population wasn't almost-entirely female..._

 _...It also used to have a government, as opposed to me being a head of state without a government..."_

...

50 years ago...

Time: 1945 Hour; 25th of December, 2067.

Location: Gensokyo(?).

In what appeared to be a big city, the streets with their asphalt roadways, steel lampposts and concrete buildings were fairly abandoned as the evening sun casted its lights upon the man-made structures for the last few minutes. In response to the fading sunlight, the lampposts came to life and shone their artificial lights onto the artificial structures.

The street was abandoned in such a way that only animals could be seen sneaking around the alleys, knocking over trash cans and intruding dumpsters to look for food.

Yes, the streets looked like it has been abandoned for a long time.

At least, until an explosion can be heard coming from a junction.

Not too long after the loud explosion, what appeared to be a news helicopter bearing the words " _Gensokyo News Channel_ " arrived at the scene of the explosion, the crews went to work fairly quickly.

"You are now watching the _GNC_ , and I am at Plaza Fantasia, overlooking what seems to be yet another one of the Gensokyian Capitol - Ignobilium City's infamous crime wars. This time, its a three-way standoff between the Tuskachevy Mafiya, Al-Jihad Clan _and_ the Asian mafia known as Pakmunjeong. The four groups of gangsters are exchanging fires with each other using what appears to be military-grade heavy machine guns, anti-tank sniper rifles and APCs. So far, police have tried and failed to contain the situation, as the uninjured officers struggle just to contact their injured comrades..."

As the news helicopter reported the news, the event being reported continues to escalate in exactly the same way the news reporter had described: what looked like armored policemen pouring out from APCs near a massive commercial vehicles pileup trying to contain an equally massive firefight between three different groups from different directions of the Plaza, with the policemen not doing very well themselves.

"From what I can see here, the Gensokyo Police Force are taking cover at the south street of the Plaza, as the Tuskachevy Mafiya with their arsenal of trolley-mounted heavy machine guns are pushing forward from the north street into the west street, where the al-Jihad clan are using a double-decker bus as a makeshift fortification while their anti-tank snipers are gunning down the Mafiya's heavy machine gunners... Wait, it seems that the Pakmunjeong Mafia took the opportunity to bring out a _main battle tank_ from their side of the east street which they blew up both the Tuskachevy Mafiya's HMGs and the al-Jihad Clan's fortification with..."

What appears to be a main battle tank rolled in from the east street into the center of the Plaza Fantasia. The heavy vehicle simply ran over the vehicle pileup as though it was made of paper, and fired its cannon at the north and west streets, blowing up members of the Tuskachevy Mafiya and al-Jihad Clan with each shot fired.

From the west street, a surviving al-Jihad Clan member emerged from what remains of the makeshift fortification with an AT-4 rocket launcher, which he aims at the Pakmunjeong Mafia's main battle tank.

The tank driver noticed the rocket launcher, and rather than using the main cannon, he opted to use the minigun which is mounted right next to the main cannon to gun down the al-Jihad Clan member.

A hail of bullets tore through the al-Jihad Clan member with not a single bullet flying past him, killing him on the spot. Although the Clan member still managed to pull the trigger of the AT-4 before he falls over. A rocket was fired from the AT-4, and it wasn't aimed at the Pakmunjeong-controlled tank...

...But rather, the GNC helicopter.

"Holy shit!" The news anchor exclaimed when he saw the rocket coming toward him.

The helicopter pilot could not maneuver the news helicopter in time, and the rocket appears to hit where the news anchor is standing on at the moment, creating an explosion whose fireball and smoke concealed its unintended target.

...

Location: Presidential Office, Black House; Ignobilium City, Gensokyo(?)

There were currently only two people in the Presidential Office of the Black House: a middle-aged man with black short hair whose name tag identifies him as "President", and a woman with shoulder-length blonde hair identified as the President's secretary. Both people were watching the three-way gang war being reported by the GNC on television, the headlines scrolling through _"Massive 3-way gang war erupting in Plaza Fantasia. Civilian casualties so far are zero, but police casualties are over 11 and rising"_.

"Welcome to the capital city whose crime wars only escalates." The President threw in a sarcastic comment on the news report.

"I think you should be taking this... incident very seriously, President- _sama_." The secretary told him, using what sounded like an Asian honorific despite her Westerner accent.

The President turned toward his secretary. "What can I do? Not only am I continuously getting bugged by other matters, this..." He pointed at the TV screen. "...Is all that Gensokyo's current police force are capable off. And its because of those reasons another news reporter bit the dust..."

That being said, the live news footage continued broadcasting to reveal that the news anchor and his filming crew has survived the explosion, all thanks to the news anchor managing to cast what seemed like a shield spell at the last second.

 _"And before I end tonight's news report, I would like to give President Atrius Stone and his administration this useful suggestion..."_ The news anchor, furious about what he just went through, looked straight at the camera, in such a way that he gave the President and his secretary a sense of Uncanny Valley, before continuing with his personal comment, _very loudly_. _"I don't care if they're off fighting Taoist insurgents or Rebel Youkai in Mugenri! SEND IN THE ARMY, YOU GODSDAMNED MOTHER****ING LAZY DEMOCRAT! That's it! Let's get the Makai outta here!"_

The live footage then cuts away to the GNC news studio, where another news anchor comments on his colleague's actions and apologizes for the politically incorrect insult in behalf of the entire GNC studio staff.

"Ouch. What an insult..." The President, named Atrius Stone, threw in a deadpan comment in response. "I guess making adjustments to their salaries wouldn't make them keep their job if all these firefights goes on..."

The secretary sighed. "All because Gensokyo's police force are underequipped compared to the gangs in the Capital."

President Stone shot the secretary another response. "But hey, so long as those gangsters stayed inside downtown Ignobilium City, the citizens will remain content with their life." He then gives the secretary the pointer finger. "Didn't you agree with me during last month's embassy dinner, Miss... What's your name again?"

The secretary sighed once more before replying, "The name's Yakumo. Yukari Yakumo. And I was half drunk during the embassy dinner with Lord Tsukkoyomi Houraisan of the Lunar Kingdom, and I will not make that mistake ever again." That said, the secretary, called Yukari, said before she dismissed herself and left the Presidential Office. Yukari could be heard mumbling "Why am I a secretary when I'm the one who created Gensokyo? Godsdamned politicians..." as she left.

The President just sat behind his desk, procrastinating for a short while before sighing and saying, "And this is life in the Democratic States of Gensokyo...". After that, he leaned against his chair, and continued procrastinating.

President Stone had failed to notice that, when the GNC began to report on the same event from Plaza Fantasia from a different news reporter's POV, a lone person on a motorcycle can be seen speeding through the south street past the policemen and their APCs...

...

Location: Plaza Fantasia, downtown Ignobilium City, Democratic States of Gensokyo(?).

The policemen who were busy tending their injured comrades watched with surprise as the motorcycle and its driver flew over the barricade that the police had set up to be used as cover, stopping several meters away from the Pakmunjeong-controlled main battle tank.

By this point, members of the al-Jihad Clan and Tuskachevy Mafiya had initiated a strategic retreat, knowing that they cannot possibly beat the Pakmunjeong Mafia's tank with their current firepower. So for now, the Pakmunjeong-controlled tank had only one target to shoot at: the woman in her 20s wearing a red-white outfit who had just showed up all of a sudden.

The tank driver decides to go overkill by firing the main cannon at her...

...To which the woman responds by _snatching the shell from midair_ , and then _throwing it straight back at exactly where it came from_.

The tank went up in a large fireball when the shell travelled the wrong way down the main cannon's barrel, and blew up inside the armored military vehicle. There's no questioning that the main battle tank is busted.

The remaining Pakmunjeong Mafioso, having noticed the woman singlehandedly taking out their best firepower with no weapons at all, popped out from behind the east street shops they were using as cover, and volley-fired their assault rifles at her.

The woman revved up her motorcycle, and charged straight toward the Pakmunjeong-occupied east street, carefully maneuvering around the bullets that were fired at her.

Then at the last second, she jumped off the motorcycle with a somersault with it still running, sending it crashing straight into two Pakmunjeong Mafioso, knocking them out instantly.

The woman flying-kicked a Mafioso before she landed on the ground, sending him barreling over another one of his colleagues which knocked them both out. She then swiftly dodges a Pakmunjeong Mafioso's attempt at hitting her with the stock of his assault rifle, and retaliates by pulling the gun right out of his hands and whacking him across the face with it. Another Mafioso approached from behind the woman and tried to stab her with the muzzle of his assault rifle, in which she parries with the one she snatched before kicking that guy in his tummy, causing him to collapse on the spot.

One of the Mafioso that was hit by the motorcycle earlier recovered, and tried to fire his assault rifle at the woman. The woman foil his attempt by throwing the assault rifle she snatched earlier at that Mafioso, this time knocking him down with enough force to knock some of his teeth right out of his jaws.

The policemen who were watching from the south street just stared on with surprise while the Pakmunjeong Mafioso were being stomped on like ants.

The woman can be seen approaching the street side shops as she stepped on the unconscious gang of Pakmunjeong Mafioso. She stopped just short of one of the shot-up shop lots - a car showroom that was abandoned by its owner when the three-way firefight erupted.

"Are you going to stay there doing nothing or what?" The woman said to someone inside the car showroom. She then took several steps back, as a Pakmunjeong Mafioso wielding a pair of laser-sighted submachine guns slowly came out of hiding and approached her.

The Mafioso's hands were trembling, and close observation reveals that his index finger weren't touching the triggers of either SMGs.

"I suggest you either surrender to the police or run straight back to your boss..." The woman told the Mafioso. "The third option is very unpleasant, and none of us present even wants to imagine it..."

The Mafioso, in response, dropped both SMGs on the floor. Other than that, he doesn't seem to be doing anything else.

The policemen that weren't injured or busy tending their injured colleagues took the opportunity, "Go, go, go!" and approached the position of the Pakmunjeong Mafioso with their assault rifles raised.

But then, the Pakmunjeong Mafioso suddenly dropped his façade, and spawned a pair of immaterial swords literally from thin air, and roundhouse-slashed everyone while shouting with rage.

Half of the policemen present took the slice straight to their chest, which penetrated their body armor and killed them outright. Blood slowly leaked out of their wounds afterwards. The remaining policemen backed off just in time to avoid being hit.

The woman had only barely evaded the surprise attack, which tore a shall hole on the chest portion of her outfit. She paid little attention to the damage done to her outfit, and instead focused on the Mafioso.

"So this is how you want it to play out..."

Adding no more words, the woman whipped out a pair of Sai swords from behind her long hair (despite the lack of sheathes of any kind, probably pulled out from Perception Hammerspace), and charged at the Mafioso with the swords raised.

The Pakmunjeong Mafioso parried the charge with his dual-wielded immaterial knives, only to immediately receive a kick to his guts which he has no way to block or evade, sending him staggering backwards. The Mafioso then retaliates with a charge of his own, which didn't work as the woman was able to stab his right hand with her Sai, causing him to unwillingly dispel the right immaterial knife.

The Mafioso yelled out in pain when his right hand got stabbed, and he staggered backwards once again as he received yet another gut kick. Blood poured out of his right hand at an inhumanly fast pace. Before he could attempt another attack, the woman sliced him in his chest at such a rapid pace that he could not do anything except staggering backwards with each hit until he backed all the way against a wall...

...In which the woman ends off the duel by stabbing him right in his chest, with the dual Sai swords going all the way through him and slightly into the concrete wall behind him.

"dangsin-eun Yokwe-ui eotteon jonglyu ibnikka?!" [What kind of Youkai are you?!] The Pakmunkeong Mafioso, with his last few breathes, managed an anger-fuelled question.

The woman pulled her dual Sai swords out of his body before answering in a boastful tone...

"I am no Youkai. I am the Rural Shrine Maiden - Miko Hakurei."

With that said, she put her dual Sai swords back into Perception Hammerspace, and proceed to forcefully twist the Mafioso's head so much that his neck snapped on the spot with an audible crack. The Pakmunjeong Mafioso whose head has been fatally dislocated dropped on the floor like a ragdoll afterwards.

Plaza Fantasia became completely silent following the end of the crime war that started minutes ago.

With no gang members left in the abandoned plaza, the woman called Miko Hakurei turned toward the remaining policemen.

The remaining policemen pointed their assault rifles, laser sights activated, at Miko, while surrounding her.

"Really? I help you people stop the gangs and their pesky wars, and this is how you repay me all the time?" Miko called out on the policemen for their actions, but attempted no resistance to their arresting her. The Rural Shrine Maiden is then handcuffed and escorted by the policemen onto an APC which then drives away with her on board. "Men are so ungrateful..." Miko said as the policemen carted her on board the APC.

The policemen's notion at arresting Miko is relatively relaxed compared to when they were dealing with the three-way crime war that happened moments ago in the same location, indicating that they have arrested the Rural Shrine Maiden multiple times in the past.

...

Time: 0600 Hour; 26th of December, 2067.

Location: Waiting room, Gensokyo Police Force Headquarters; Ignobilium City, Democratic States of Gensokyo(?)

 _"Good morning. You are now watching GNC. Here's a summary of the headlines..."_

The HD LCD television that was hanging off a corner of the ceiling broadcasted the early morning GNC news at a regular volume, as a few police officers who spent the last night running midnight shifts yawned and stretched their arms. Working night shifts with little to no rest takes its toll on anyone, especially for humans.

 _"Number one: Black House official and president's secretary Yukari Yakumo has described last night as the bloodiest and goriest Christmas night to have ever happened in any Sanctuaries, as casualties including civilian and law enforcers approached three digits. Number two: President Atrius Stone announces that he will be pulling out half of the Gensokyian troops that are deployed in Mugenri, which have led to the Mugenrites worrying about Taoist insurgents and Rebel Youkai taking advantage of..."_

The two headlines reported were the first thing Miko Hakurei sees and hears after spending the previous night in a juvenile detention cell. Those were luxurious compared to the actual jail cells that were reserved for the likes of robbers, smugglers and gang members.

"Politicians..." The Rural Shrine Maiden commented on the headlines.

"It's because of that guy in the Black House that so little people wanted to work as police officers." A policeman who had just arrived at the police headquarters agreed with Miko. "Although it seems that the news industries are faring even worse for the same reason." His tone of speech to the Rural Shrine Maiden indicates that he knew her for quite a while. "Tried to 'help' the guys again, I guess?" The officer asked Miko.

Miko simply gave the officer the look that says "Yes."

"Fifth time already this month, eh?" The officer responded. He then pointed a thumb at the Property Reclaim Counter. "Nothing's permanently confiscated this time, so off you go."

Miko approached the Property Reclaim Counter without saying anything else.

The Property Reclaim Counter attendee was half-asleep when the Rural Shrine Maiden approached him, and was only able to stay on the job with the help of a mug of instant coffee. Upon seeing Miko standing right in front of the counter, he did his job - laying out and listing all the personal belongings that aren't permanently confiscated, which somehow included weapons - while still half-asleep.

"Let's see... A bundle of Shinto Paper Charms, check. A gohei, check. A pair of Sai swords, check. A pair of nun-chucks, check. Is there anything else missing here?" The attendee analyzed the belongings and asked Miko.

"The thanks that the GPF owes me." Miko said.

"I get that a lot." The attendee replies with deadpan. "Proceed."

With the analyzing done, Miko took all her belongings and put them all into her Perception Hammerspace. "Have a nice day, officer." She told the attendee before turning around.

Just as she was about to step out of the main entrance, something within the GPF HQ Waiting Room caught Miko's attention.

"It's been a while, isn't it?" She greeted someone. "Yukari?"

Sure enough, the President's Secretary - Yukari Yakumo was there, standing in the middle of the Waiting Room when she wasn't there seconds ago.

"I thought the Ability Neutralizers in the police headquarters blocked everyone's abilities?" The Rural Shrine Maiden asked the secretary.

"I don't think government officials are included in the neutralizing fields." Yukari replies with a straight answer.

Miko turned back toward the Waiting Room, and proceed to sit herself on one of the chairs that were reserved for civilians.

Yukari sat herself next to the Rural Shrine Maiden. The secretary summoned a tiny gap in front of her, which she reaches inside and pulled out a bottle of orange juice. "Care for some?"

Miko declined the offer. "No, thanks."

Hearing that, Yukari undid the seal of the bottle, twisted the cap open, and took a small sip from it.

"So, what brings you to me today?" Miko asked the secretary.

"Nothing..." Yukari replies to the Rural Shrine Maiden. "Just one friend paying another a visit."

"I see..." Miko said. "So what have you planned for your New Year Resolution?"

"I think..." Yukari took another sip of the bottled orange juice before continuing. "I think I'll hire a competent Shikigami to lighten my workload at the Black House."

"A competent one?" Miko reacted to the word. "Its not like you've summoned one before, right?"

"Well, you'll never know what you're going to get..." Yukari gave a reasonable answer.

Several police officers who've just arrived for their first shift of the day greeted the president's secretary with a salute, to which she returned with a salute as well.

"So, how was life at the Black House?" Miko asked another question.

Yukari gulped down the remaining orange juice in the bottle before she answered. "Sorry, not in the liberty to tell you anything abut that."

Miko scoffed upon hearing the secretary's response. "Like I said earlier: politicians..."

Yukari stood up, and threw the empty juice bottle into a trash can which was at the opposite end of the Waiting Room, and the Waiting Room was quite a large one. "Well, politicians tend to be really careful with what comes out of their mouths and computer keyboards." Yukari then walks out of the police headquarters. "I have to get back to work now. So... Until next time..."

With that said, the secretary opened a gap large enough to accommodate one person, which she walks into before closing it behind her.

Miko just stared at where Yukari stood seconds ago, before saying "Run, you clever girl, and remember..."

...

Time: 0630 Hour.

Location: Somewhere in Ignobilium City.

Good thing for Miko Hakurei that the GPF did not impound her motorcycle, as it was right there in the parking lot outside the police headquarters. The motorcycle itself has not been tampered with, which was a great thing.

An early morning rainfall had just begun. Although it started out small enough that it can be ignored by everyone, Miko still didn't like the idea of hanging around outside until the light rain turns into a downpour.

With nothing notable happening in the Gensokyian capital city at the moment, the Rural Shrine Maiden decided to drive her way back to her home - the Hakurei Shrine in the rural, least technologically developed state of Gensokyo.

A pocket-sized radio was hanging off the motorcycle dashboard as it played what sounded like classical European music. The light rain did not hamper the signals it received.

Encountering a red light at a junction, Miko stopped her motorcycle, and temporarily turned off the engines as she waited for the traffic lights to turn green.

A bus that has President Atrius Stone's political propaganda printed on its sides passed by in front of the Rural Shrine Maiden made her think of what the Stone Administration might be up to at the moment. It also made her think of the life of her old friend, Yukari Yakumo, who is currently working at the Black House.

"You're probably the only president's secretary whose complaints are not directed at politics itself..." Miko said under her breath.

Thinking of the word "friend" suddenly made the Rural Shrine Maiden remember something else. Apparently, that something has... well... something to do with meeting another friend today.

"Hm... Who am I supposed to meet today...?" Miko scratched her head as she tried to remember the full detail.

Then it came to her: the rain.

"It was also a rainy day when he left Gensokyo. Today was the day I'm supposed to wait for him there, at the airport..."

The traffic light turned green, and Miko started up the engines of her motorcycle again. Rather than heading east where the Human Village was located, the Rural Shrine Maiden had changed her mind and turned west toward where the airport was...

...

Time: 0700 Hour.

Location: Gensokyo Inter-Sanctuary Airport.

It was a rainy day when he left Gensokyo for an actual business trip to Wonderland, another Sanctuary that is also sealed off from the Outside World. It was also a rainy day when he came back.

The man is probably around his early 30s. He is wearing a business suit minus the necktie and carried with him a single luggage which he dragged behind him as he approached the Immigrations Counters, which also doubled as checkpoints.

Rather than scanning a luggage like Outside World airports usually does, the customs of Gensokyo actually preferred to physically check the luggage of everyone crossing the checkpoints.

"Here, take as long as you want to check it." The man told the customs officer as he opened his luggage.

The contents of the luggage were: several spare clothes, a Gensokyian passport, a paper slip printed with trading permits with other Sanctuaries (but so far only used in Wonderland), a perfectly ordinary knife in its scabbard...

...And a handgun with its safety mode on.

The customs officer put a pair of plastic gloves on before he picked the handgun up for closer inspection. "Sir, may I ask why you have an unconcealed gun within your luggage?" The customs officer asked.

The man simply replies with a straight "Because Gensokyian law enforcements are getting outgunned by the bad guys these days."

The customs officer looked at the man for a short while more, "Good point.", before he put the gun back with the rest of the luggage contents. He then picks up the passport, and stamped it before handing it back to the man. "Welcome back to Gensokyo, Mr. Kirisame. Have a good day."

"As do you, officer." The man, who went by the surname Kirisame, replied. With the things at the Immigrations Counter done, he proceeded to pack up his luggage, and move on so the people behind can get their turns.

As he stepped into the main terminal of the airport, he looked around for signs of a specific person that was supposed to meet him here today.

"Late again? Just like last time..." He complained under his breath.

"Right behind you..." Said a voice from behind him.

The man was not surprised one bit to hear that voice coming from behind. He turned around, and greeted that person with a smile. "Good to see you again, Miko."

There stood the Rural Shrine Maiden, Miko Hakurei in her signature red-white outfit.

"I see that you've cleaned up nicely since we last met, Daisuke." Miko greeted back.

Daisuke Kirisame scoffed at being told that. "Well, that's because the Wonderlanders sees things differently than us Gensokyians, and I hate to give our Sanctuary a bad first impression." He then points his free hand at Miko's nose. "Unlike you, getting your hands dirty whenever the Deadly Four starts a fight with each other."

By Deadly Four, Daisuke was referring to the infamous gangs of Ignobilium City - the al-Jihad Clan, Tuskachevy Mafiya, Pakmunjeong Mafia...

"More like Deadly Three, because the Yadoshima Syndicate has remained silent since last month." Miko corrected. "The last thing they did was installing automated turrets all over an abandoned residential building, which failed spectacularly because the Pakmunjeong Mafia suddenly attacked them without warning before they could finish the installation."

Daisuke slapped his own forehead and laughed at what he just heard. "Oh, that bastard, Densada Yadoshima. He never learns about the fact that perfection takes too long to achieve..."

It is then that Daisuke noticed that he seems to be missing something.

"I know what you're thinking..." Miko intercepted Daisuke's thoughts. "That girl's stuck in the customs again."

"Oh, she never learns... What an irony for the Kirisame bloodline..." Daisuke slapped himself in the cheek lightly.

Seconds later, a young lady with long blonde hair who is wearing a black-white long-sleeved blouse with buttons and almost-ankle-length skirt approached the duo while running. She stopped right next to Daisuke, and panted to catch her breath.

"Sorry I'm late, ze!" The young lady apologized to Daisuke. "Something prevented me from crossing the customs right away."

Daisuke moved his hand toward the young lady and gently shoved her hair aside, revealing the pointy ear underneath.

"I've told you back at the Ace Of Spades Airport in Wonderland, those earrings are made of a material which even while not enchanted are treated the same way guns on safety mode are." He chided the young lady for something. "But you didn't listen, Mami. You didn't listen, and the customs forced you to take them off for a very close inspection..."

The young lady, called Mami Kirisame, sighed in disappointment.

Miko attempted to grab Daisuke's attention back toward herself. "So, did Mami... you know, 'borrow' anything when the two of you were in Wonderland?"

"Now that you mention it..." Daisuke scratched his head as he recalls the answer to that question. "There's that time at the Wizards and Witches' Emporium..."

However, something off the distance made him stop mid-sentence. He frowned at what he was seeing.

Miko instantly recognized the expression that Daisuke is displaying. "Right here, right now...?" She turned around to see what he saw.

The very same thing had caught Mami's attention as well, and she too frowned at its happening.

Two groups have just marched into the airport terminal, with the many onlookers evading their path and even frantically escaping from the terminal upon seeing them. One of those groups was the al-Jihad Clan whose bright-white Muslim attires made every single one of their member stand out in the background, the other the Tuskachevy Mafiya whose tattooed arms and legs made them equally obvious.

There was no guessing what is about to happen between those two gangs.

"Could be the score that they were about to settle with each other until the Pakmunjeong Mafia interrupted yesterday..." Miko analyzed the purpose of the gangs' presence here. The Rural Shrine Maiden then turns toward Daisuke. "Pick up your gun, and put it out of safety mode..." And then towards Mami. "And you should go find a safe place to hide for the next 30 minutes..."

Before Miko could continue on with her sentence, the members of the al-Jihad Clan and Tuskachevy Mafiya whipped out their weapons from their own Perception Hammerspace, and pointed them at the opposing gang. While the former with their large amount of members brandishing assault rifles seemed formidable, the latter with their members brandishing submachine guns while wearing military-grade body armor even the odds out.

Daisuke did as told as he opened his luggage again and picked up his handgun, this time turning the safety off. Miko whipped out her nun-chucks from Perception Hammerspace, and prepared herself for battle.

"...Because things are about to go to Makai..." The Rural Shrine Maiden finishes her sentence...

...Just as the al-Jihad Clan and Tuskachevy Mafiya opened fire at each other.

* * *

 **Afterwords**

If you are reading this Afterwords Section as one of those fanatic fans who insist on Fan Works following canon materials entirely, then congratulations on not raging about this story! However, if you are still going to rage about it, then I suggest that you forget about ever coming across this story, and leave it alone without your rage comments contaminating its Reviews section.

Now for those who have no problem with this story...

Gensokyo 50 years in the past has a Magitech-laden metropolis as its capital? Four different gangs whom fights against each other on a daily basis? Actually lethal combats and the lack of anything like Spell Cards? A government that is pretty much a carbon copy of the United States Of America (or Registan, since this story shares a universe with _Fantasy Blitzkrieg_ )? Yukari Yakumo is not head of state? Democratic States of Gensokyo?

Let me remind you about something I've mentioned earlier: _"...This story will throw about 90% of_ Touhou _canon out of the window..."_ Yes, I'm not kidding when I said that in the Forewords section.

Now on to the non-Shout-out things that need clarifications...

 **Why a three-way gang war as the main theme of this pseudo-prequel?** Well, first of all, its actually a four-way gang war. The Yadoshima Syndicate is absent in the first one mentioned in this chapter, so we only saw a three way one. Of course, I am not going to draw too much parallel to _Grand Theft Auto_ when I write this story.

 **Al-Jihad Clan? Tuskachevy Mafiya? Pakmunjeong Mafia? Yadoshima Syndicate? What's with the diversity of these gangs?** Well, very few fiction ever portrayed more than two nationalities at the same time (the most common alternatives being Chinese, Russians and and Arabs), so I thought to defy that trope by putting Arabs, Russians, Koreans and Japanese gangs in the same setting, and have them clash with each other too. I've already defied the same trope by putting ISIS and North Korea in the same sentence in _Fantasy Blitzkrieg_ , have the characters mention as may countries as possible in _Metal Slug: Mercenaries_ , and the diversity of the NEW Team in _Team Fortress 2: Mann Of Conspiracy_.

 ***Insert questions about OCs here*** Miko Hakurei and Daisuke Kirisame are not my OCs. The former is a fan character from _MUGEN_ , whereas the latter was an insignificant character from Kimiko Muffin's _Touhou Nekokayou_. Mami Kirisame and President Atrius Stone _are_ mine, but you may go ahead and borrow them at any time because I'm going to do a Take That against the "OC do not steal" meme.

In case you're wondering... Daisuke and Mami Kirisame, despite sharing the same surname/ family name/ last name, have yet to be officially married, that's a case of a childhood marriage proposal promise. And yes, they are Marisa's parents, and they do have pointy ears. Additionally, they are not Gensokyian-born Japanese (or Asahinese, due to being fifty years before _Fantasy Blitzkrieg_ ), but rather, Gensokyian as an ethnicity, not a nationality, as shown by Mami's pointy ears.

 **The characters listed on the story's characters list were "Mima, Youki Konpaku and OC". I get the OC part, but where's Mima and Youki?** Those two will appear in later chapters, so trust me on this.

 **Yukari isn't the head of state? What is this sorcery?!** Said sorcery being complicated politics and the untrustworthiness of democracy.

 **What language was the sentence that was said by the Pakmunjeong Mafioso just before he gets killed?** That's Korean. Additionally, "Yokwe" is the Korean equivalent of the Japanese Youkai.

 **You often base your creations off real-life stuffs. What about the gangs?** Sorry to tell you, but only the al-Jihad Clan are actually based upon something, in this case a combination of al-Qaeda and the Taliban. The Tuskachevy Mafiya, Pakmunjeong Mafia and Yadoshima Syndicate are completely original creations. The names for the latter three were respectively inspired by and were the corruption of the names of: the film " _Tukhachevksy, Conspiracy Marshall"_ , the Panmunjom phony outpost in the North Korean side of the 38th Parallel aka the De-Militarized Zone or DMZ, and... well... the infamous so-called Yudodan Union that is controlled by a guy called TH3 Law from the _Let's Danmaku_ Forum.

Oh, and remember in _Fantasy Blitzkrieg: Mission Two_ when I mocked Hackery for his ridiculously overpowered Imperial Jade Palace, Lewisian Syndicate and Feng Tailang? Well, I took that back just a month after writing it because TH3 Law's Yudodan "Union", Densuke Yadodan (whom I based Densada Yadoshima on) and everything else he uses are even more overpowered than Hackery's ragtag bunch of overkill-happy morons.

 **How in the world can _guns and weapons_ cross the customs and be taken back by someone recently-released from juvenile detention without being confiscated?!** Ridiculously high crime rates forced the Gensokyian government to completely abolish gun controls and make weapons legal just so that the citizens stood a chance at surviving in the crime-infested Makai-hole that is Ignobilium City. How Daisuke got his handgun through the customs of _Wonderland_ is an entirely different matter...

Finally... Wow, this may be the longest Afterwords section I've ever written.

Shout-out index:

*Ignobilium City itself* - That scene is based upon the first few minutes of the film _Predator 2_ , in which the gang wars becomes so bad that the gangs are using military firearms, police are helpless against the war, a news reporter deciding to GTFO after having a close shave with a stray bullet, and that same reporter yells at the government to declare martial law.

"What kind of Youkai are you?!" \- Replace "Youkai" with "monster", and the appropriate answer becomes " _The Wolverine_ ".

"...Until next time..." - No matter what I write, I don't think I can ever surpass what Takerfoxx milks _Imperfect Metamorphosis_ with...

"Run, you clever girl, and remember..." - Been a long while since I did a _Doctor Who_ reference...

 _"...President Atrius Stone has announced that he will be pulling out half of the Gensokyian troops deployed at Mugenri, which has led to the Mugenrites worrying about Taoist insurgents and Rebel Youkai taking advantage of..."_ \- Another _Len'en Project_ reference in the form of Mugenri. Apparently, Mugenri was to the Democratic States of Gensokyo what real-life Iraq was to real-life United States of America...

A bus...passed by Miko..." - There's a bus in Gensokyo! Take that, Cirno!

That is all. _"Until then..."_


	3. Chapter 2: There Is Only Bloodshed

**Forewords**

So in the previous chapter of _Gensokyo Untold_ which is also the first chapter, we've learned that (at least in the universe of _Fantasy Blitzkrieg_ ) 50 years ago, Gensokyo has a crime-rampant Makai-hole of a metropolis as its capital, and the crime rates are so high that the then-still-functioning government of the so-called Democratic States of Gensokyo was planning to replace the police with the _army_.

Yeah, thinking outside the box in terms of fiction-writing can sometimes get you very weird results. Otherwise, we wouldn't have all those Anime and Manga in which the settings and storylines seemed absurd in comparison with, say, American or British medias... Hey, even Chinese and Korean fantasy titles aren't as weird!

Sorry, I didn't mean to offend anyone from East Asia on that last part...

So let's cut the Forewords short and get going with the main story.

* * *

 **Chapter 2: ...There Is Only Bloodshed**

 _"Back then, the City Ruins where the Citadel is located was a thriving, technologically advanced metropolis, with a balanced percentage of magic here and there. Although the technology and magic back then were two separate terms as opposed to the hybrid Magitech we were all familiar with today._

 _Additionally, the metropolis, called Ignobilium City, was more of a dystopia filled with crime and political corruption, yet somehow managed to remain the capital city of the then Democratic States of Gensokyo. The city itself was on a daily basis rampant with gang wars between four gangs so powerful even an armed force look underequipped in comparison..."_

...

Time: 0715 Hour; 26th of December, 2067

Location: Terminal, Gensokyo Inter-Sanctuary Airport.

As soon as the gunfight began, most of the civilians in the airport terminal had quickly evacuated themselves by running straight for the nearest exit. The gunfight was so bad even the airport security guards have abandoned their posts to avoid being caught in the crossfire.

Al-Jihad Clansmen and Tuskachevy Mafiya Bratok exchanged a hail of full-auto live ammunitions with each other. Some just stood there as they opened fire at the opposing gang, while others used the surroundings as covers.

Miko Hakurei and the Kirisame couples took cover behind a Duty Free merchandise booth as the hail of bullets from the two dueling gangs tore up nearly everything in the terminal.

A few innocents that didn't escape or take cover in time were injured by stray shots.

Seeing innocent people getting injured in the crossfire caused Miko to change the plan she has in mind. The Rural Shrine Maiden turned toward Daisuke and said "We need to get the innocents out of the firefight!"

Daisuke seems to sight as he finishes loading up his handgun. "I'm telling you, Miko, you care about other people too much..."

Several assault rifle bullets tore through the part of the booth counter above Mami's head, causing the young lady to squeal in fear.

"Well, the police won't be arriving anytime soon, so I guess we have to do something..." Daisuke comments about the situation, before responding to Miko. "Right... I'll go evacuate as many innocents as I can, while you help make sure I don't take any bullets."

All of a sudden, an Al-Jihad Clansman tumbled over the Duty Free booth counter as he was pushed back by continuous submachine gun fire from a Tuskachevy Bratok.

Mami looked away from the bullet-riddled corpse in disgust.

"Mami, you stay low and try not to get shot while Miko and I help evacuate the innocents." Daisuke told the young lady, before coming out of the cover. He laid low and crawled toward the closest injured innocent slowly as to decrease the likelihood of being hit by a stray shot.

Miko jumped over the booth counter, nun-chucks in her hands, as she whacks out cold an approaching Al-Jihad Clansman and a Tuskachevy Mafiya Bratok.

Two Bratok have noticed the Rural Shrine Maiden, and since those two weren't shooting at any Al-Jihad Clansmen, they were able to temporarily divert their attention on her. The two Bratok proceeds to empty entire magazines worth of bullets on her.

Miko deflects every single one of those bullets with very precise swings of her nun-chucks.

The Bratok dropped their jaws in surprise. They tried to reload their SMGs, but one was knocked out cold by Miko kicking him right in the face. The other Bratok dropped his SMG and attempted to engage the Rural Shrine Maiden in hand-to-hand combat. The first punch thrown by that Bratok was easily dodged by Miko before she elbowed him on the back of his head hard enough that either his collarbone or cranium was cracked due to blunt force trauma, knocking him out of commission instantly (hard to tell whether that actually killed him, but he's not going to survive the ongoing gunfight anyway).

"Pathetic..." Miko commented on how quickly the two Bratok went down.

"Gensokyo to Miko Hakurei...!" Daisuke interrupted the Rural Shrine Maiden and called out to her. "I'm taking fire here, and shooting back is not easy when I'm helping people escape!"

As it turns out, one of the Al-Jihad Clansmen had broke off from his colleagues and started shooting innocents after one had thrown something hard at him. Daisuke was returning fire with his handgun, but had no success because firing one handed compromises accuracy by a great deal, and he's dragging an injured innocent with his other hand.

Miko rushed toward that Al-Jihad Clansman without further thinking, and attacked him with a triple-blow of her nun-chucks to his head, the third blow landing straight on his Solar Plexus, hitting with enough force to make him spit out blood before he falls limp on the floor. The Clansman's assault rifle slid a tiny distance away from him as it slipped out of his limp hand.

Without any warnings, the Rural Shrine Maiden picked up that assault rifle, and broke it in half by kneeing it before she threw the two halves straight at the mobs of Al-Jihad Clansmen and Tuskachevy Bratok.

The throwing of the two halves of the assault rifle did not make the two gangs turn their attention toward Miko. However, it did confuse them enough that thy stopped shooting at each other for about three seconds.

Which is just enough time for the innocents to make a run for it.

"Okay, people! Now's your chance to get out of this Makai-hole! You're not gonna get another chance unless you're lucky!" Daisuke shouted at the innocents to tell them to grab the opportunity to escape from the airport terminal. The innocent the merchant's dragging with him is too injured to walk on his own, so Daisuke dragged him toward an information booth that seemed to be strong enough to deflect all bullets fired at it.

After he's done with the innocents, Daisuke rejoined Miko, handgun locked and loaded.

"I usually don't like to get into any fights, no matter who started it first..." The merchant complained to the Rural Shrine Maiden. "But when I have no choice but to get into one... Let's just say the bad guys ain't gonna get away without at least a graze..."

That said, an Al-Jihad Clansman suddenly showed up in the airport terminal brandishing a rocket launcher. This Al-Jihad Clansman proceeds to fire a single rocket at the largest cluster of Tuskachevy Bratok he could find. The explosion blew some of them to smithereens, and the ones that are still in one piece are thrown several feet into the air (a few even slammed into the ceiling of the airport terminal as the result).

"Even if they show up with more firepower than necessary..." Daisuke added calmly. He then turns toward Miko. "By the way, did you really grab a tank shell from midair and throw it back at the tank that fired it, with just your bare hands?"

Miko slapped Daisuke on his shoulder with her free hand, "Think of it as a volleyball..." before she dashed straight toward the middle of the gunfight with her nun-chucks in hand.

"Yeah... A high-velocity volleyball that can penetrate concrete..." Daisuke throws in a comment before following the Rural Shrine Maiden into the fight.

...

Still hiding behind the Duty Free merchandise booth, Mami crouched down and cowered as hail of bullets flew above and around her. But after a short while, it seems that both the Al-Jihad Clan and Tuskachevy Mafiya have stopped firing...

...At least, that's what it looked like. Gunshots are still being heard coming from them, but no more bullets came near her.

Taking the opportunity, Mami poked her head slightly out of the bit of cover she has left, and sees something that is stuck between lame and amazing.

The amazing part comes from Miko singlehandedly beating up Al-Jihad Clansmen and Tuskachevy Bratok in quick succession with what amounts to hand-to-hand combat in a massive gunfight, and the one fighting hand-to-hand is winning, not to mention that Miko either dodged the bullets fired at her or deflected them with precise swings of her nun-chucks. At one point, the Al-Jihad Clansman with the rocket launcher placed his attention on the Rural Shrine Maiden and fired a rocket at her. Miko snatched that rocket from midair with her bare hands and proceeds to throw it straight back to where it came from, blowing that Clansman into smithereens.

The lame part comes from Daisuke hanging around just outside the edge of the danger zone, taking potshots at both gangs with his puny handgun. Granted, he still manages to avoid getting shot while avoiding friendly-firing Miko at the same time, but the merchant was pretty lame compared to the Rural Shrine Maiden.

By that point, there were more Al-Jihad Clansmen and Tuskachevy Bratok either unconscious or dead than the ones still shooting at each other, and some of those have temporarily diverted their attention on Miko and Daisuke, only to be taken out by the duo soon after. At least for now, the gangs' gunshots stayed inside the zone of the gunfight, making it safe enough for Mami to come out of her cover and sigh in relief.

That is, until one of Miko's heavy punches has sent a Tuskachevy Bratok barreling toward the Duty Free merchandise booth. The Mafiya member crashed halfway through the booth, stopping just short of where Mami currently stood.

Somehow, that Tolkachi is still alive despite the injuries he sustained, and was staring straight at Mami with that pair of bloodshot eyes.

The stare totally freaked out the young lady, as she pulls a magic wand from her Perception Hammerspace and proceeds to cast a spell which blew the almost-dead Tuskachevy Bratok back toward the zone of the gunfight, which was at least halfway across the airport terminal.

The Mafiya member being blown such a far distance away drew the attention of both the Al-Jihad Clan and Tuskachevy Mafiya as the two gangs stopped their duel. Miko's eyes widened as she pondered how Mami was able to pull off what she just did, but Daisuke's reaction was that of a horrified man, taking into context what might happen next.

"Mami... What did you do?" The merchant said to Mami with the same horrified look.

The Al-Jihad Clansmen and Tuskachevy Bratok raised their guns for a moment before both gangs were ordered by their lieutenants to put them down. With so little active members left in the airport terminal, both sides have decided that they've already broke even with their fight for now...

...That, along with armed police force arriving just in time. Most policemen rushed in from the main entrances and aimed their LMGs or shotguns at the surviving gang members, a few descended from the ceiling of the airport terminal via fast-rope descend.

 _"Drop your weapons and surrender in the name of justice!"_ The police officer in charge demanded to the gangs via megaphone.

Both the Al-Jihad Clan and Tuskachevy Mafiya have decided that right now, they should put their weapons down instead. Both sides did, but did not put their hands up in the air

Seeing how the two gangs basically just surrendered, Miko became relaxed, and Daisuke breathed a sigh of relief before rejoining Mami.

"They could've fired at you..." The merchant told the young lady.

"I was freaked out. Didn't think further when I acted..." Mami replies.

An Al-Jihad Clansman tried to run toward and grab Mami, only to be quickly whacked multiple times on the head by Miko and her nun-chucks after just stretching his hand out. An audible crack can be heard when the last hit knocked him onto the ground (again, hard to discern whether he's alive or dead).

"Overconfidence can get you killed, idiot..." The Rural Shrine Maiden delivered a post-mortem line to that Clansman as she puts her nun-chucks away.

Then just as the police were moving in, the lieutenants of the Al-Jihad Clan and Tuskachevy Mafiya both did something that caught everyone not with any gangs off guard.

The Al-Jihad Lieutenant dropped an object that emitted a thick layer of fog which enveloped all of the Al-Jihad Clan, in which the entire clan somehow disappears into thin air after the fog had cleared. The Tuskachevy lieutenant - Avtoritet in their mother language - pulled off something similar at almost the exact same time with a very bright light-emitting object that blinded everyone else, and the entire Tuskachevy Mafiya had also disappeared afterwards.

Both the police officers and the Kirisame couple are bewildered by how the two gangs managed to escape despite the airport terminal being surrounded to the point of being airtight. However, Miko, having seen something like this many times in the past, wasn't surprised one bit as she explains it with a single word.

"Magic..."

Although the police officers didn't care much, as they moved in, LMGs raised, and surrounded Miko just like at Plaza Fantasia yesterday.

Miko, having been used to this, remained calm as she lets the officers cuff her without resisting in any way. "Don't worry, Daisuke. This happens on an almost daily basis..."

"Seriously?!" Daisuke himself, although knowing that this has happened multiple times in the past already, is still not happy about it. "You help them stop a gang fight and reduce civilian casualties, and this is still the way they repay you?!"

"This is just so unfair, ze..." Mami added in to that sentence.

But just as the police officers are about to escort Miko onto an APC, all of them were suddenly distracted by something else arriving on the taxi runway outside the terminal entrances.

It was a jet black SUV. One that was instantly identified as coming straight from the Black House. In other words, someone from the Gensokyian government has arrived in person.

"...The Makai...?" Daisuke exclaimed in surprise upon seeing the black SUVs.

One would normally expect at least one Gensokyo Secret Service Agent accompanying whichever government official may be in that SUV. But that was not the case, as said official came alone, as the driver no less...

...It was the presidential secretary - Yukari Yakumo. She came straight to the location where a massive gang war had only just ended a few minutes ago, and she came out of that SUV alone.

The police officers saluted Yukari on instinct, in which the secretary dismisses before walking toward the officer in charge.

"Release her, officer." Yukari told the officer in charge, with the "her" referring to Miko Hakurei.

The officer in charge attempted to question Yukari's reason for making that demand, considering that Miko has been, from their point of view, obstructing justice. But then he reconsidered the fact that the demand came from a government official. Even if it isn't made by the president, he being simply a police officer had no rights to not comply.

And so, the officer in charge ordered his squad, "You heard the president's secretary. Un-cuff that woman."

The same officers that cuffed Miko immediately went to un-cuffing the Rural Shrine Maiden.

Miko rubbed her wrists upon being un-cuffed. She then turns toward Yukari and said "Thanks..."

"That's just something I'm supposed to do for a fr..." Yukari replies, but stopped mid-sentence because saying what she was going to say as a politician right within public earshot is very bad for her PR. The presidential secretary turned toward the officer in charge instead, and engaged in a discussion that wasn't audible at the moment.

Daisuke and Mami were more or less surprised by Yukari's unexpected arrival.

"Geez, didn't expect Yukari to come here today, especially after what had just happened, ze..." Mami voiced her comments.

"Bit... Girl's haven't been promoted nor demoted either..." Daisuke added his own.

Miko walked toward Daisuke and slapped him on the back of his head. "Even if Yukari is our friend, she is still the secretary of President Atrius Stone. In other words: a government official. So watch what you're about to call her."

Knowing why he received that slap, the merchant put a hand to his head in embarrassment. "Oh right. I always forgot that. Especially in front of a squad of police officers, that probably wasn't such a good idea..."

At about the same time, Yukari had finished her discussion with the officer in charge. The officer ends the discussion with a salute before turning back toward the other police officers and ordered them to secure the airport terminal.

"Right..." Yukari said to Miko, Daisuke and Mami. "We should let the police officers do their job. So, Kirisame couple, care for a ride home?"

...

Time: 0845 Hour.

Location: Block 7, Residential Apartments; downtown Ignobilium City.

Although Yukari offered to be the chauffeur for their one-hour ride home, the Kirisame couple weren't that much interested in the jet black government-issue SUV which, aside from heavy armor plating, is pretty much the same as any civilian SUVs. Then again, Miko's motorcycle could only carry one driver and one passenger.

The Kirisame couple got off the SUV without any additional comments on it, as they unloaded their relatively intact luggage which have managed to survive the airport terminal shootout more than an hour ago.

"Well, was kind of expecting more from something used by the government..." Daisuke hangs a lamp on the blandness of the SUV. "Then again, not all politicians spends their income on impractical things."

Miko dismounted from her motorcycle and killed the engines, before saying to Daisuke. "One always learn new things about the reality that we all live in. For example, I've learned that you take too much time just to aim at your target."

The merchant heard that quite clearly, and he took it as a pseudo-insult. "Well, at least not like you who always fight with melee attacks, even if your opponents outnumber you hundreds to one and have guns."

Mami cuts in to the argument just in time to stop it from erupting any further. "Not everyone could knock out an escaping snatch thief by just extending their right hand over the sidewalk while riding on a motorcycle, ze."

Both Miko and Daisuke turned toward the young lady and said in unison, "Shut up..."

Yukari sounded the horn of the SUV once to get everyone's attention. "Is there anything else I can help you with right now?"

"None at the moment, thanks." Daisuke said.

"I have one: make sure the president stays true to his job." Miko told the presidential secretary.

Mami just shook her head to indicate that she has nothing to say.

"Okay, then. I'll be going back to the Black House for now. See you next time." Yukari said before she drove off on her own and left the vicinity.

"I will be going back to the Hakurei Shrine. You can always call me if there's something urgent." Miko told the Kirisame couple before she too left the scene on her motorcycle.

The Kirisame couple now finds themselves alone in front of Block 7 of the Residential Apartments. A small gust of wind blowing in the background serves to drive in the fact that this part of Ignobilium City is the most silent.

Mami broke the silence by asking Daisuke a question. "You know, I heard what Miko is asking you back at the airport before the gunfight began. What about my borrowing of things?"

Daisuke's answer was relatively straightforward for such a question. "In that you usually claim to 'borrow' without returning them..."

Mami gently elbowed Daisuke in the gut in response. "Come on, I'm just borrowing them until I die. It's not like humans could live as long as Youkai or other non-humans, ze..."

Daisuke face-palmed upon hearing that. "You're hopeless, young lady. Now I'm worried if our future son or daughter would act just like that..."

...

Time: 0900 Hour.

Location: Hakurei Shrine, outskirts of Human Village.

The Hakurei Shrine, where Miko Hakurei lived was a shabby place. The main shrine and the torii gate in front of the shrine courtyard, although in pristine condition, gave the few visitors it does have a sense of cultural isolation. Quite reasonable, when one considers the fact that the closest settlement from the Hakurei Shrine was the Human Village, the least technologically developed part of the Democratic States of Gensokyo.

Miko killed the engines of her motorcycle and pushed it up the shrine stairway upon arriving back at her home. After setting the motorcycle down on a corner of the shrine courtyard, the first thing she did was to check the donation box, which was the only thing in the shrine right now that is not in pristine condition (the Kanji on it had mostly faded away, and part of it has been bitten off by rats and termites).

There was exactly one bank note inside the donation box, and it wasn't even in Genso, the official form of currency of the DSG. It was a bank note from Wonderland that valued at a mere 5 Sterling - Wonderland's official form of currency.

"Another day with less than enough income for life..." Miko comments on the emptiness of the donation box. "Tourists from other Sanctuaries decreased in massive amounts once the gang wars got worse..." The Rural Shrine Maiden turned from the donation box to the shrine torii which overlooked the Human Village about walking distance away from the bottom of the shrine stairway. "...And that is bad for the Human Village in which the inhabitants relied on tourism for a living..."

With nothing else to take note of, Miko took off her shoes and walked past the donation box into the shrine's main building that she lived in.

Had Miko made closer inspections of the surroundings first, she would've noticed that someone was hiding within the vegetation that surrounded the shrine courtyard.

That someone was a Pakmunjeong Mafioso...

...

Location: Kirisame Household, Block 7, Residential Apartments.

"It feels so good to be home."

As soon as Daisuke got the door unlocked and opened, Mami ran straight in and laid herself over the couch in the middle of the living room.

After what had happened earlier today, Daisuke smiled as he dragged the luggage into the household and closed the door behind him. "Always a giddy little lady. Forgetting the day's events soon after..."

"I think you should take a rest too, ze." Mami told Daisuke while still lying on the couch. The young lady raised her hand up to make herself more obvious from behind the furniture.

"Nah, there's something else I have to do first..." Daisuke kindly rejects the offer, as he scanned around the apartment room.

Nothing seems to be wrong about the Kirisame couple's apartment... except for the teapot that seems to be used recently.

"Again..." Daisuke scoffed at finding out something different about that teapot. He walked toward the wardrobe that was placed in the living room, and opened it to look inside.

Turns out there was someone else not belonging to this household inside that wardrobe. This person appears to be a young lady of East Asian origins about Mami's age. This young lady has braided red hair, and is wearing a beret and what looked like a slightly modernized _hanbok_ , both of which are gray.

"May Lee..." Daisuke greeted that lady in a jokingly creepy way. "You snuck into my apartment again..."

The young lady - May Lee stepped out of the wardrobe and bowed apologetically in embarrassment. "Old habits die hard. Ever since that one time you left for work and forgot to lock the doors..." She gave herself a light slap to the cheek once before saying, "Joseong habnida!" [I'm so sorry!]

Daisuke felt guilty seeing the way May Lee apologized. "Ah, forget it. Just make sure you leave my apartment exactly the way I left it next time you decide to... you know, sneak in..." The merchant then points out something else. "And also, not many people in Gensokyo speaks your native language, so stick with English at the very least. You know how we Gensokyians are still getting the kinks in our Translation Spell worked on."

May Lee bowed apologetically a third time. "Yes, I will."

Mami got up from the couch. "You know what, May?" The young lady approached May Lee and made her stop bowing to Daisuke. "Enough with the bowing, ze. You're not anyone's servant or anything... Even though you worked at the same place as I am..."

"More precisely..." Daisuke kindly interrupted Mami. "One's a supermarket cashier, while the other's a supermarket _security_."

"Enough with all this, ze..." Mami interrupted Daisuke back, before turning back toward May Lee. "Sorry for keeping you here longer than you planned to. You can go now."

May Lee bowed one last time, this time to thank Mami, "Gomabseunida..." [Thank you...] before she dismissed herself and left the Kirisame couple's apartment room.

With that settle, Daisuke then turns toward Mami. "Jeez, you've kind of spoilt her from a certain point of view..." The merchant told her.

The young lady makes a verbal counterattack. "And you... Why do you carry guns everywhere you go, anyway? Maybe Gensokyo I can understand, ze. But even in Wonderland..."

Daisuke decided to end the discussion, and interrupted Mami, once again. "Okay, let's take turns under the shower, and take the rest of the day off. We're going back to work tomorrow."

With her sentences interrupted so many times in such a short timespan by the same person, Mami sulked under her breath, and mumbled "I'd have cast a spell to literally zip your mouth shut, had I actually knew how to cast it..."

...

Location: Hakurei Shrine, outskirts of Human Village.

With nothing else to do at the moment, Miko came out of the shrine's main building with a broom in hand, and started sweeping the shrine courtyard with it.

The shrine courtyard is at the moment littered with small amounts of leaves and pieces of scrap papers. Even if the Rural Shrine Maiden purposely sweeps slowly, she is still going to be done in just about five minutes.

Indeed, Miko is done with the sweeping in exactly five minutes. The leaves and scrap paper pieces gathered in a single neat pile just a few steps' distance from the main building.

Miko spent the next few seconds wondering how she should dispose of the pile. "Just leave it there? No, either the wind or some random fairies will scatter the pile all over the place again. Burn it? No, too much smoke in this autumn weather even though it should've been winter under natural circumstances..."

Then, something or someone sneaking up from behind the Rural Shrine Maiden interrupted her thoughts.

Miko proceeds to greet that entity without turning around. "Another successful raid on a Yadoshima-owned warehouse, I presume?" After making the cold greeting, Miko turned her head slightly, just enough for her to see what or who is behind her.

It turns out to be a Pakmunjeong Mafioso, or more precisely, the Lieutenant of the Pakmunjeong Mafia, pointing a handgun at the back of Miko's head point-blank. The Lieutenant isn't alone either, as several other Pakmunjeong Mafioso showed up in the Hakurei Shrine, five of them under the torii armed with submachine guns, three more on the roof with what appeared to be military-grade anti-material sniper rifles.

"You are half-correct, shrine maiden..." The Pakmunjeong Lieutenant replies to Miko. "We did raid a warehouse, but it belonged to the pigs that are the Tuskachevy Mafiya."

Miko tightened her grip on the broom. "No wonder the Mafiya went to the airport without their usual firepower." She made an offhand comment. "So, why are you here, Choi?"

The Pakmunjeong Lieutenant, who went by the surname Choi, kept his handgun pointed point-blank at Miko's head. "I have but a simple demand..."

"Then name it." Miko tells off Choi with a daring tone. "I may have plenty of time, but I'm very sure your boys here don't."

Choi scoffed in response. "Even at such a disadvantage, you still dared to say something like that." The Pakmunjeong Lieutenant pulls the trigger of the handgun just enough that anything making him flinch will cause his trigger finger to twitch in response, thereby firing the gun. "As I was saying, my demand is but a simple one: I want to know the whereabouts of something..."

"What would that be?" Miko said, not quite getting what Choi is demanding due to his not being specific enough.

"I believe... your merchant friend's girlfriend may have mentioned it at the airport..." Choi finishes his demand in a specific manner.

Now that certainly caught the Rural Shrine Maiden's attention. "Mami Kirisame? What about her?"

...

Location: Kirisame Household, Block 7, Residential Apartments.

"Your turn, ze..." Mami said to Daisuke after she was done with her shower, coming out of the bathroom wearing a bathrobe.

"Well, that was quick..." Daisuke commented on how quickly the young lady was done. The merchant proceeds to walk into the bathroom, and locked the door behind him the moment he did.

Mami made sure Daisuke has actually locked the bathroom door before she went straight for the bedroom and threw herself onto the bed.

"Home. Sweet home." The young lady told herself. Noticing her luggage that she set down next to the bed earlier, Mami sat up from the bed, and then undone the locks of the luggage before opening it.

The luggage is filled mostly with the clothes and everyday item Mami bought with her on Daisuke's business trip to Wonderland, but one particular item in the luggage is the center of focus at the time.

Mami took a small box from the luggage. Running a hand over the surface of the small box, the young lady said silently, "The customs at the airport sure did not expect me to grab it back without anyone noticing via my pickpocketing skills, ze..."

Mami opened the small box and looked at its content with a smile.

"Earrings made of Pure Crystal, a material best used for magic. Glad that I grabbed the last one just in time, ze..."

...

Location: Hakurei Shrine, outskirts of Human Village.

"Pure Crystal? That is what you wanted?" Miko remarked upon being told of Choi's demand by the Pakmunjeong Lieutenant himself. "Its best used for all sorts of magic spells. But its literally non-existent in Gensokyo, and even a tiny amount costs a bomb in Wonderland. No wonder you and your boss wanted the only current sample from the Kirisame couple..."

"That is correct..." Choi told Miko as he kept the muzzle of his handgun pressed against the back of the Rural Shrine Maiden's head. "We wanted the Pure Crystals to be ale to help us turn the tides against all the other gangs of Gensokyo, especially the so-called Al-Jihad Clan and Yadoshima Syndicate..."

"You might want to consider just dealing with Yadoshima..." Miko shot a dare-flavored suggestion at Choi without turning around. "He and his Syndicate has been silent for a while already, and you yourself knows how far ahead those psychopaths make their plans..."

Choi laughed with a mocking tone in response. "Then we shall interrupt them before they are done planning." Deciding to get back on topic, the Pakmunjeong Lieutenant pressed the muzzle of his handgun much harder against Miko's head. "So just answer my question: Where are the Kirisame couple?"

Miko just stood there, still holding the broom in her tight grip, and stayed silent despite the situation being against her favor.

"Five more seconds, shrine maiden..." Choi decides to get serious with the topic, and threatened as he starts a countdown. "Four. Three. Two. One..."

Then at that very last second, Miko turned around and grabbed Choi's handgun with such a speed that, from the POV of the Pakmunjeong Mafioso present, the whole action was faster than the blink of an eye.

Choi had pulled the trigger of his handgun all the way. But despite the loud audible bang, the point-blank shot did not draw any blood on Miko.

"You're fast, Choi, but still too slow." The Rural Shrine Maiden taunted the Pakmunjeong Lieutenant as she let go of the handgun.

Turns out, Miko had crushed the metallic handgun with enough force that both the slide and the muzzle crumpled to the point of crippling deformity. The bullet that was fired only left the muzzle halfway before it got stuck in the deformed muzzle.

Choi stared at the crumpled handgun, dumbfounded for three full seconds, before Miko stabbed the flat end of the broom right between his eyes, causing him to stagger back several steps.

"You and your boys can tell that son-of-a-bitch Park Ryeong-Han to go shoot himself." Miko taunted all the Pakmunjeong Mafioso as she prepared herself for battle.

"Tch..." Choi grunted out of spite, before giving a command to the Pakmunjeong Mafioso present. "Geungyeoleul jug!" [Kill her!]

The three Mafioso standing on the roof wielding anti-material sniper rifles were the first to open fire on the Rural Shrine Maiden.

Miko still managed to dodge those three shots despite being fired from such a shot distance with the addition of laser sights. In retaliation, she snapped the broom in half, and threw each half at two of the sniper Mafioso.

One took a hit right on the forehead and stumbled backwards, dropping his sniper rifle off the roof; the other got hit on the chest, and his stumbling backwards caused a misfire that blew out the brains of another Mafioso under the torii that was about to shoot Miko.

The third sniper Mafioso manages to fire another shot at Miko, only to have the Rural Shrine Maiden snatch it from midair with just two fingers before she throws it back with enough force to tear through the rifle scope and right into the poor Mafioso's eye.

The remaining four Pakmunjeong Mafioso under the torii aimed their SMGs at Miko. But before any of them can fire, the Rural Shrine Maiden kicked the pile of leaves she swept earlier, scattering leaves all over the shrine courtyard that temporarily threw off their aim.

Miko took the chance to run up close to a Mafioso and punch him in the face with enough force to dislocate his lower jawbone and kill him outright. She then grab hold of that Mafioso's SMG and throws it at another Mafioso with the same amount of force, knocking him out before he can fully pull the trigger of his SMG.

The last two Mafioso did not bother to take aim, as they volley-fired their SMGs at Miko.

The Rural Shrine Maiden turned out to have the reflexes to dodge such a large amount of bullets as she ran toward the two Mafioso without even getting grazed. She then finishes the two Mafioso by grabbing and bashing their heads together, knocking them both out.

With all the Pakmunjeong Mafioso dealt with, Miko turned her attention back on Choi. "Anything else?" She delivered.

The Pakmunjeong Lieutenant frowned at the incompetence of his men. Out of frustration, he threw his deformed handgun onto the ground and then kicked it away.

After that, the two stared straight into each other's eyes with hostility for a full minute, as if having a staring contest. The only sound heard during that period is the trees ruffling in the background as they were being blown by the wind

And then, Choi breaks the silence as he makes a dash toward Miko, preparing to throw a punch at her direction.

Miko swiftly dodges the charge at the last second, and then lands a Karate chop at the back of Choi's head.

"Not the same kind of hit, but consider that an irony..." The Rural Shrine Maiden delivers a one-liner to the Pakmunjeong Lieutenant.

Choi, without saying anything, quickly turns around and retaliates with a series of rapid punches.

Miko parries each and every one of those punches just as fast as Choi throws them. Choi had thrown 30 punches rapidly, and Miko had parried 29 of them, with the 30th being stopped by Miko catching Choi's punching hand.

"Nice move, but you will have to do better than that..." The Rural Shrine Maiden said to the Pakmunjeong Lieutenant, before she picked him up and thrashed him onto the ground multiple times like a ragdoll.

The thrashing that he received had all but made Choi unable to continue, as he laid in the man-sized dent that formed from the thrashing. All that came out of his mouth is a cough.

"Now is my turn to ask you a question..." Miko said as she plants a foot on Choi's torso to keep him pinned on the ground. "For what exact purpose does Park Ryeong-Han want Pure Crystals for?"

Rather than answering the question, Choi responded by raising his right hand up, from which an orb of light exploded with enough brightness to blind Miko.

By the time the bright light faded, Choi and all the Pakmunjeong Mafioso in the Hakurei Shrine courtyard had disappeared. The only evidence of them ever being present are the spent bullet casings, the deformed handgun, an anti-material sniper rifle, some fresh patches of blood and the dent on the ground being left behind.

"Looks like I will need to keep a keen eye out for them... the Pakmunjeong Mafia..." Miko told herself as she looked at the spot where Choi was only seconds ago.

* * *

 **Afterwords**

Well, well... With such a rampant crime rate, as well as the gangs possessing military gears, its such a surprise that President Atrius Stone hasn't done much about it, other than planning to keep them under control with the army. And that's _just planning to_... Another surprise is that he hasn't met with protests to get him removed from office for essentially not doing anything else about the situation. Wonder how he got his job in the first place...

Additionally, it turns out that like her future daughter (Marisa), Mami Kirisame is also a kleptomaniac, and also has the "ze" verbal tic. Although Mami isn't trigger happy at all, that is Daisuke's characteristics.

I did a tiny bit of research on the concept of Mafiya (Russian mobsters) and found that their generic mooks may not be called Bratok, but I used the term as a stand-in because both "minions" and "soldiers" don't fit the mobster bill quite as well. I refrained from referring to Al-Jihad Clansmen as "jihadi" out of respect to real life, and because the Al-Jihad Clan was a gang and not a caliphate despite the name. "Mafia" is technically an Italian term, but since the Pakmunjeong Mafia is _Korean_ , I avoided using any other Mafia-associated terms to not make their nature any more confusing. As for the Yadoshima Syndicate... Well, not revealing anything about them yet due to spoilers, other than that their planning are more like scripting...

Before I end this chapter's Afterwords, let me explain this last bit: May Lee is not entirely original, as she's basically Hong Meiling as a Korean girl.

Shout-out index:

May Lee - Same nationality and name as, but different appearance and personality than May Lee from _The King Of Fighters_. And since this May Lee is an expy of Meiling who is a martial artist, she might be qualified to call herself a Tae Kwon Do fighter...

That is all. _"Until then..."_


	4. Chapter 3: Survival Was A Struggle

**Forewords**

If you're the kind of person who prefers easy-to-understand Fan Fics, then you should turn away right now because I'll be intentionally making this series very confusing, so much that the _Metal Gear_ franchise seemed simple in comparison.

Before I end this chapter's Forewords, I'll like you to leave behind a Review or two if you have any. Thank you.

Now let's get back to the storyline...

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Survival Was A Struggle**

 _"Crime back then was so rampant that the then-functioning Black House had to abolish weapons control entirely just so the citizens can defend themselves in emergencies. But that abolishment is probably part of what led to the series of catastrophic events in the first place._

 _I suggested that abolishment in the first place, so perhaps I'm partly to blame for it..."_

...

Time: 1200 Hour; 26th of December, 2067.

Location: Old Industrial District; Ignobilium City, Democratic States Of Gensokyo.

The Old Industrial District sits on the northernmost part of Ignobilium City.

Abandoned by both entrepreneurs and politicians, the Old Industrial District is now just a territory full of weathered industrial building and equipment, with the only current residents being wild dogs and crows poking around the waste disposal units and industrial vehicles for anything they might consider as food. The Old Industrial District is just that, a husk of its former glory.

At least, that's what it looked like at first sight.

The dogs and crows immediately scampered when a hooded figure strolled through the main road that stretched from one end of the district to the other. It was as if the mere presence of this person caused the wild scavengers to escape in fear of being killed.

The hooded figure's jacket wasn't completely buttoned up, as the name tag secured to his chest over his fancy shirt poked out of the jacket. The name tag spells out "Yadoshima" in English alphabets.

Another presence had drawn the hooded person's attention. "You're exactly on time, buddy. Not a second sooner or later..."

"Of course, Mr Y..." The other person emerged from a barely lit alleyway and greeted the hooded person. "What everyone else refers to as OCD, we refer to as flawless perfection..."

The hooded person, Mr Y, scoffed upon hearing that, as he took a puff from an e-cigarette he stashed under his jacket. "Not so flawless when you keep making the same minor mistake. Specifically, the fact that codenames can be safely ignored in our homestead."

"Oh, right." The other person slapped his forehead. "I'll carve that reminder straight into the inside of my eyelids if I have to, Densada Yadoshima."

Mr Y, whose real name is Densada Yadoshima, puts his e-cigarette away before speaking another sentence. "So, what have you planned in my absence in the past few months? I want ownership of every nook and cranny in Ignobilium City except the area near the Black House."

The person, presumably a henchman, said nothing as he passed an envelope to Yadoshima. "Remember when we got eavesdropped upon by the Al-Jihad Clan, Tuskachevy Mafiya and Pakmunjeong Mafia all at the same time? We may have won the ensuing brawl, but I certainly do not want to be troubled again."

Yadoshima snatched the envelope from the henchman, and stashed it under his jacket. "True, true. The Yadoshima Syndicate may have an infinite amount of time to kill, but we still won't waste a single second on irrelevant things unless we really have nothing to do at the moment..." The hooded man then walks past the henchman. "Let's take this discussion back at my mansion just down the road, shall we?"

"Yes, boss." The henchman acknowledges as he follows Yadoshima behind. "Nothing beats the nigh invulnerable building that is the Yadoshima Estate!"

Further down the main road, there was a large building that stood out from the rest of the Old Industrial District: a mansion in which the walls are painted entirely in dark red, dark blue, dark green, and every possible color that leans close to the black side of the spectrum. The mansion's outer walls are also lined with automated mounted guns, as well as security cameras with submachine guns attached to their underside.

...

Location: Hakurei Shrine; Human Village, Democratic States Of Gensokyo.

"Listen closely." Miko Hakurei said through the headset of the ring-dial phone. "This is important, Daisuke. I need to talk to Mami right away."

 _"Can't do."_ Came the voice of Daisuke Kirisame from the other side of the line. _"She went to the supermarket at central Ignobilium to pick up some groceries. Just how important is your message?"_

"It is not a message..." Miko said as she face-palms. "It's a warning. Several Pakmunjeong Mafioso just came to the shrine, they said they want Mami."

 _"For what?"_ Came the merchant's blunt response. _"Not like she has anything valuable or powerful they need..."_

The Rural Shrine Maiden face-palmed again. "'Something powerful' is exactly what they want..." She mumbled under her breath.

 _"What?"_ Daisuke said, having heard Miko mumbling but not the exact words of the mumble.

"Nothing..." Miko assured the merchant. "Just tell Mami to be careful."

 _"You still haven't told me why the Pakmunjeong Mafia wanted her_." Daisuke reminded, having become suspicious.

Miko tried to tell Daisuke that the Pakmunjeong Mafia wanted Pure Crystals - which Mami had stashed with her luggage upon returning from Wonderland - for something definitely nefarious, but she held herself off from saying that. "Their Lieutenant said she had dirtied their leader's car the day before you two left for Wonderland. Whether she did it intentionally or not, I do not know, but the Pakmunjeong are definitely angry about it."

 _"Really? Told her to be more careful around unfriendly territory..."_ Daisuke said with a scoff, having been relieved of his suspicion. _"But I'll keep her informed about it."_

"Be sure to keep in touch..." Miko told Daisuke.

Just as the Rural Shrine Maiden is about to hang up the phone, something ringing digitally had caught her attention.

She picked up the smartphone that was placed next to the ring-dial phone. It was ringing because of an incoming call, which she accepts.

 _"Keep in touch, as in like this?"_ Came Daisuke's voice from the other side of the digital line.

Miko ended the digital call without saying another word through it. She went back to the ring-dial phone instead. "If you're going to use the mobile phone, at least put it on Untraceable mode."

 _"Yeah, yeah, I will..."_ Daisuke sulked at Miko's constant nagging through the wired line. _"Now if you excuse me, I need to go restock my inventory at the distributor's. See you later today."_

With that said, Daisuke terminated the call, and hung up.

Miko then puts the headset of the ring-dial phone back onto the phone base.

"The supermarket?" The Rural Shrine Maiden became alerted. "That's in Pakmunjeong territory..."

Without further thoughts, Miko ran straight for her motorcycle in the courtyard, got on it, and gunned the throttle before she drove down the Hakurei Shrine steps at maximum gear.

The sudden motorcycle engine noise had spooked all the birds and fairies in the surrounding forest, as they all took into the skies in large flocks.

...

Location: Supermarket; central Ignobilium City.

The Supermarket, known simply as that to the citizens of Ignobilium City, is one of the few places in the capital of the DSG where people comes to shop for groceries or other daily products.

The Supermarket also sells some rather unconventional products.

Mami pushed her shopping cart full of groceries past a pair of Supermarket customers who had accidentally set off a set of Sealing Charms right in their face, covering them in soot. "Good luck with paying for those, ze..." She told the pair nonchalantly while pointing at a sign hung on a rack of packaged Sealing Charms that says _"Once detonated, considered sold"_. Each package holds only about 10 Sealing Charms and has the price tag of 100 Genso (pretty expensive by current economy standards).

Stopping before the cashier counters, Mami double-checked all the things she placed in her shopping cart.

There were conventional products like boxes of cereals, apples, orange juice, cartons of milk, eggs, sugar and butter. There were also a few unconventional products like combs, handheld mirrors, napkins and notebooks. And then there's also the things that one would never see in any Outside World supermarkets (or anywhere in the Outside World for that matters) such as an Alchemist's Flask and a wooden Wand Box (like a glasses box, only for magic wands).

"This should be all of it..." Mami finishes double-checking the contents of her shopping cart. "I hope I can pay for all these..." The young lady then checks her wallet, which contained a credit card that expired today, and a dozen banknotes... in Wonderlandean Pound Sterling. "Darn, I forgot to convert these back into Genso banknotes, and the card became useless starting today..." Mami lamented with disappointment, as she picked out exactly one 20 Genso banknote from her wallet. "Guess some of them will not be paid, then, ze..."

With that said, Mami pushed her shopping cart toward one of the cashier counters, when a suited man decided to jump the queue and cut straight in front of her.

The young lady was not happy with the queue jumper. "Hey, did you just seriously cut in front of me?!"

Something about the man made the cashier in the counter put up a "counter closed" sign and get away from the scene in a hurry. This made Mami realize that the queue jumper in front of her probably isn't good news.

As Mami tried to reach for the other cashier counters, she saw that the attendees of those also put up "counter closed" signs and left their stations in a hurry, much to the other shoppers' dismay.

"Um... What the Makai is going on?" Mami wondered why the cashiers reacted so. She looked around the Supermarket, and saw that another man in an identical suit has just appeared behind her.

"Those are some nice earrings you have there, manim..." The second suited man said, with a thick Asian accent.

"Would be a shame if something happens to them..." The first man added, also with a thick Asian accent.

Mami felt uneasy with these two men suddenly talking to her like that. But then she looked around the Supermarket interior and saw that more men in identical attires have appeared in every corner, practically surrounding her.

"Wait a minute..." Mami understood what was going on when she recalls the honorific the second man called her by. "Even though I don't understand the language, I know only one bunch of people who would use it that way..." The young lady reached for the magic wand she holstered by her hip. "You guys are all Pakmunjeong Mafioso..."

That said, she proceed to whip out her wand and casted a spell at the second man, throwing him across the Supermarket aisle.

As soon as the spell was cast, all the other shoppers in the Supermarket ran away from the cashier counters in terror, leaving their own shopping cart of products behind.

The queue-jumping Pakmunjeong Mafioso took the chance to grab Mami in a headlock with his right hand, while his left hand... somehow crackled with electricity as he brought it closer to the young lady's head.

"You crooks! What the Makai do you want with my earrings?!" Mami tried to free herself from the headlock, casting several more spells into the Supermarket ceiling in the process.

"Pure Crystals." The Pakmunjeong Mafioso holding her answered. "We want the Pure Crystals which your earrings are made of." He then brings his electrified left hand closer to Mami's head.

Just as the electrified hand was about to make contact, another hand grabbed and stopped it just short.

It was May Lee, the same girl that was caught "broken into" the Kirisame Household hours ago. May Lee proceeds to deliver a punch straight into that Pakmunjeong Mafioso's face, sending him barreling through the cashier counter with enough force to completely wreck it.

Mami rubbed her neck upon being released from the headlock. "Thanks, May. I guess I owe you one, ze."

"No need to thank me~" May Lee replied. "I was just about to pay for my weekly supply of instant noodles when I heard what you've just got yourself into." She proceeds to deliver another punch to another Pakmunjeong Mafioso that was sneaking up on her with a cattle prod in hand, and that punch is done without her turning around.

Mami then casts another spell over May Lee's shoulders, hitting a Pakmunjeong Mafioso who was about to fire his handgun. The Mafioso was launched backwards with enough velocity to knock over an item rack and spilling products across the floor.

"What a coincidence, we encounter each other in the same Supermarket we worked at, and both of us are on leave at the same time." Mami said.

May Lee grabbed a carton of milk from Mami's shopping cart and threw it straight at another gun-wielding Mafioso, knocking him out cold instantly.

"I am not on leave. I just switched over to afternoon guard duty which was about to start when this happened." May Lee responds afterwards.

More Pakmunjeong Mafiosi entered the Supermarket. Some brandished handguns and submachine guns while a few wielded knives... that appeared to have magical auras radiating off the blades.

May Lee placed herself between the newly-arrived Pakmunjeong Mafiosi and Mami. "What did they want from you?"

Mami aimed her wand over May Lee's shoulder at the group of Pakmunjeong Mafiosi. "I... I don't know, they said something about Pure Crystals, and referred to my earrings..."

Hearing that, May Lee glanced at the earrings the young lady wore on her pointed ears. The Supermarket security guard then immediately understands why the Pakmunjeong Mafia is after Mami. "You might want to get down and find some place to hide..."

Before Mami can respond, one of the knife-wielding Mafioso lunged at May Lee with his aura-radiating knife raised. May Lee nonchalantly foils the Mafioso's attack by delivering a Tae Kwon Do kick straight to his face.

"Because the situation can get ugly when my fellow security guards are unable to do anything." She added.

May Lee was right, the other security guards of the Supermarket were taking cover behind the aisles but hesitated to act, knowing that their stun guns and beanbag shotguns wouldn't do much against the SMG-wielding Pakmunjeong Mafiosi (not to mention the guards are also outnumbered).

In just a few seconds, one of the Pakmunjeong Mafioso fired a small burst from his SMG, giving Mami the initiative to quickly duck behind a cashier counter as live bullets started flying.

May Lee did not bother to dodge the bullet spray. Instead, she simply threw a punch that sent out a short ranged shockwave that while lasted only a meter, was just strong enough to deflect every single one of those fired bullets.

It is then that the Pakmunjeong Mafiosi decided that the suspense had dragged on for too long. The knife-wielding Mafiosi charged forward with their magic knives in hand while the SMG-wielding ones took aim and are going to pull the trigger.

And then something interrupted them.

Something suddenly crashed through the glass automatic doors of the main entrance of the Supermarket with a loud crash, and barreled through a single Pakmunjeong Mafioso before coming to a complete halt.

It was Miko Hakurei on her motorcycle. She got off her ride with a somersault as everyone present turned their attention toward her.

"Mami, next time you need to be careful what you bring back from your oversea trips..." Miko said.

Mami, who is currently hiding behind a cashier counter had heard that. "Well, how should I know that the Pakmunjeong would want them for some sinister purpose?!"

Another Pakmunjeong Mafioso suddenly came out of nowhere and lunged at Miko with his magic knife in hand.

The Rural Shrine Maiden whipped out her Sai swords swiftly, and easily evaded the lunge before stabbing the Mafioso right in his heart. Miko then kicks the dead Mafioso forward, causing the magic knife to slide out of his grip. Miko proceeds to kick that magic knife toward an SMG-wielding Mafioso who had just taken aim at her. The knife impaled him on his shoulder which technically shouldn't kill him, but did so anyway because the magic imbued in the knife is probably a death curse.

Miko raised her Sai swords in front of her, as she enters a defensive stance while giving the remaining Pakmunjeong Mafioso a taunting glare.

"Bring it..."

As the taunt is made, a rather large Pakmunjeong Mafioso showed up from behind the aisle, wielding what appeared to be a belt-fed heavy machine gun.

"당신이 말하는 대로..." [As you say...] That Mafioso responds to the taunt.

Mami peered out of the cashier counter, and notices the Mafioso with the heavy machine gun. "Oh, why do you fighters have to taunt your opponents all the time?" The young lady goes back into cover when bullets started flying.

As the large Mafioso unleashes a hail of bullets from his heavy machine gun, the other Mafiosi went all out with their own attacks, lunging at Miko and May Lee with their magic knives or firing their SMGs at the two fighters.

Two knife-wielding Mafiosi lunged at May Lee at the same time. May Lee dodges the attack from the first and then punches him in his stomach real hard before using his body as a shield to block the second Mafioso's stab. She then throws a punch over the first Mafioso's shoulder at the second's face.

Miko dashed toward a SMG-wielding Mafioso that is unloading an entire magazine worth of bullets at her. She easily deflect all the bullets with her Sai swords without slowing down, and ends the dash by cross-slicing the Mafioso on his chest.

As of right now, there are three more Pakmunjeong Mafiosi left in the Supermarket. One had somehow gotten his hands on a bystander whom he holds at gunpoint, another took cover behind the aisle while occasionally popping out to take potshots, the third being the large one with the heavy machine gun whose high-caliber rounds are ripping through the aisle and scattering products all over the place (yet somehow not hitting anyone).

Miko quickly analyzes the situation. "May Lee, you deal with the one with the hostage, I will deal with the one hiding behind the aisles." She told the Tae Kwon Do fighter before going to take on the Mafioso behind the aisles.

"Got it." May Lee responds before going for the Mafioso with the hostage.

The hostage-taking Mafioso shifted his aim at the approaching May Lee, and fired a hail of bullets, which she easily dodges by sliding below them.

Seeing how shooting May Lee didn't work, the Mafioso saved up the last bullet in his SMG and pressed the muzzle against the hostage's head. "나는 쏠 것 이다!" [I will shoot!] He threatened.

May Lee didn't respond to the threat. Instead, she somersaulted over the hostage and the Mafioso, before landing an aerial dropkick upon the Mafioso, knocking him out and allowing the hostage to quickly scamper to safety.

Meanwhile, Miko dashed toward the SMG-wielding Pakmunjeong Mafioso hiding behind the aisle, deflecting his bullet spray with her Sai swords as she closed in on him. Then without warning, the Rural Shrine Maiden threw one of her Sai sword at the Mafioso, impaling him in his right arm. The Mafioso yelled out in pain before Miko lunged at him and brought her other Sai sword down upon him. After doing so, Miko plucked the thrown Sai out of the dead Mafioso's right arm.

After doing in the two Mafiosi, Miko and May Lee regrouped and turned their attention on the large heavy machine gun Mafioso, whose bullet-spraying spree is temporarily halted by the need to reload.

"That one will be back in action once he is done reloading." Miko informed May Lee of the situation. "We should do him in now."

Seizing the chance, the two fighters rushed toward the large Mafioso, who had noticed the both of them and hastened his reloading of the heavy machine gun.

But as soon as he finishes reloading, something blew the large Mafioso's head right off his shoulders.

Miko and May Lee stopped mid-dash in surprise as they watched the headless corpse tumble backwards, blood seeping out of the headless neck at a slow rate.

"I don't use guns myself..." May Lee said. "But I do know that no handgun, submachine gun or assault rifles have the caliber to simply disintegrate someone's head."

With that said, the two fighters shifted their attention back at the Supermarket's main entrance. So did Mami and the other bystanders.

Five men in heavy equipment were standing in front of the entrance. One is pointing an anti-material sniper rifle at where the large Pakmunjeong Mafioso was standing earlier, three held military assault rifles with under-slung grenade launchers, and one even bigger than the large Mafioso is wielding a full-sized _Minigun_ complete with ammo backpack.

"Someone should tell that chap in the afterlife to stop using that peashooter." The new arrival with the anti-material sniper rifle said as he slings the heavy weapon over his shoulders. "But never mind that. We want you to know..."

Miko instantly recognized these new arrivals by their equipment and speech pattern. "The Yadoshima Syndicate. They are finally back..."

"Who?" Mami poked out of her cover and asked in confusion.

The sniper rifle-wielding Yadoshima Syndicalist heard the Rural Shrine Maiden, and turned toward her. "Syndicate? I'm flattered, because everyone is calling us by that."

Miko slowly approached the Yadoshima Syndicalists whilst crackling her fists, and hand-signing May Lee to not follow her.

"You cronies of Densada Yadoshima still literally think of yourselves as a governing body, when in reality you're nothing but a bunch of street gangs with weapons they should not be having..." She spoke back to the group of Yadoshima Syndicalists in a rude way. "On top of that, your idea of having fun is to bring a heavy artillery into a densely populated area and fire at random."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk..." The sniper Syndicalist waved off the Rural Shrine Maiden. "That's because you people don't know the true meaning of life..."

Mami, who've just started having second thoughts about staying behind cover stood up from behind the cashier counter, her magic wand readied for spell-casting as she hid it behind her back. "The true meaning of life? Definitely something bad for everyone else..."

Miko temporarily turned toward the young lady. "Would you believe that the Yadoshima Syndicate saw comedy in footages of the Outside World's Auschwitz Death Camps?"

It should have dawned to Mami and May Lee that all the other bystanders have ran out of the Supermarket as soon as the Yadoshima Syndicate showed up. Even the Supermarket's security guards other than May Lee have abandoned their posts and scampered out of the premises.

"Well that's just rude..." The Yadoshima Syndicalists took aim as the sniper Syndicalist spoke back. "Enough said..."

Mami, guessing what is about to occur soon, decided against joining in on the fight and went back to hiding behind the cashier counter.

Knowing what the Yadoshima Syndicalists are planning, Miko and May Lee readied themselves for combat.

"Let's have some fun..."

As soon as the sniper Syndicalist finishes his statement, all five Yadoshima Syndicalists started firing their heavy weapons at random.

The five Syndicalists weren't aiming at anything in the Supermarket at particular. They just fired at everything at random...

...Even after Miko had thrown one of her Sai swords at an assault rifle-wielding Syndicalist. The word impaled him on his right arm, yet it hardly even made him flinch.

"They may have become much more sadistic with their antics, but most of their nature are still unchanged..." Miko said calmly as she throws the other Sai at the same assault rifle Syndicalist. This one impales him in his gut... and he still doesn't even flinch despite the large amount of bleeding.

"What...?! But how did...?" May Lee was surprised at how pain-tolerant that Syndicalist was.

"They are drug-high, alcohol-high and tobacco-high 24/7, so much that they might as well have no concept of pain at all." The Rural Shrine Maiden continued while standing amidst the random bullet spray. "They may be perfect geniuses when it comes to building their own equipment. But..."

That said, Miko snatched from midair a piece of metal rebar that fell down from the ceiling as a result of the Yadoshima Syndicalists' random shootings, and threw it at the very same assault rifle Syndicalist who had two Sai swords impaled into him. The rebar went all the way through his head, killing him on the spot as his corpse falls limp on the floor.

The other four Syndicalists, despite noticing the death of one of their members, continued their randomized shootings as though nothing special happened.

"They are perfect idiots when it comes to actual combat." Miko continued, as the randomized shootings continued, with none of the shooters turning their aim toward her. "They think nothing else in the world can pose a threat to their firepower, even after five flawless defeats in a row."

That said, Miko further demonstrated what she said by whipping out her nun-chucks and charging straight for the Yadoshima Syndicalists while dodging all the bullets they fire.

More than half of those shots aren't even aimed at the Rural Shrine Maiden...

Miko proceeds to deliver to the Yadoshima Syndicalists all the beating they deserved. The sniper-wielding one gets kicked right in the face hard enough to dislocate his lower jawbone. The other two assault rifle Syndicalists are lifted up and thrown toward the aisle. The Minigunner received several whacks to his head by Miko's nun-chucks before being knocked out by a double-handed punch to the face.

The beat-up took place with none of the Yadoshima Syndicalists even bothering to fight back.

One of the assault rifle Syndicalist landed with a face-plant near May Lee. Seeing how the Syndicalist was still alive despite having a shard of glass embedded in his throat, the Tae Kwon Do fighter delivered a heavy stomp to him, and when he's still conscious, May Lee kept on kicking him in the head until all of his teeth were knocked out, and seeing that he's still conscious and trying to shoot everything but her, she opted to just break his neck on the spot.

"You are right!" May Lee exclaimed. "This one kept focusing on shooting the surroundings even though he has the perfect chance to just put several bullets into my head!"

By the time May Lee is done with that Syndicalists, Miko had already delivered several hundred rounds of beating to the others.

By that point, the only part of the Supermarket that isn't shot up at any point during the gunfights was the floor.

"That is because they are so proud of their offensive powers, they don't care about their defensive powers at all." Miko added as she slams the sniper Syndicalist's face into the floor hard enough to dent it.

That guy is _still_ conscious, and laughing. "Defenses are irrelevant when you have enough offense to stop all your enemies..." He jested, and then blew a raspberry at Miko's direction.

The Rural Shrine Maiden respond to the raspberry-blowing by picking up both of her Sai from their original victim, and stabbed both through the sniper Syndicalist's head. "Even after you have all four of your limbs broken, and the rest of your squad taken out?" She then removes the Sai from the Syndicalist's head. "You are too smart to fight, but too dumb to live..."

May Lee kicked the body of a Yadoshima Syndicalist out of the way before rejoining with Miko. "Is that it? Just five of these... Yadoshima Syndicate goons?"

Miko placed all her weapons back into Perception Hammerspace before answering, "Yes. They sent only five of their men just to 'have fun' when the Pakmunjeong Mafia sent a dozen to do something that actually has a purpose for them..."

Mami peeked out of her cover upon hearing that the action is over. "Just my first day back from Wonderland, and this is what I have to face." She complained. "This sucks, ze..."

The sound of police siren coming from the outside indicates that Ignobilium City's police force has just arrived.

"And now we will be stuck with those policemen while they ask us some stupid questions, ze..." Mami continued her complain.

...

Time: 1330 Hour.

Location: outside the Supermarket.

Law enforcements, paramedics and news reporters have gathered outside the Supermarket in the wake of the two simultaneous attacks. Law enforcements secured the perimeter as paramedics treated the bystanders who were injured in the attacks, with news reporters reporting about it.

"You are now watching GNC, and we are reporting live from the Supermarket of central Ignobilium City, following two waves of attacks by two different gangs. According to official eyewitness reports, the first attack seems to be the Pakmunjeong Mafia's retaliation in a failed attempt to kidnap a shopper, while the second attack, it seems, is executed by the Yadoshima Syndicate - whose last activities were about a month ago - as another one of their so-called 'Boredom Killers'. By the time the Ignobilium City Police Department had arrived, the Yadoshima Syndicate has already been single-handedly taken out by an individual who's identified by ICPD as the Rural Shrine Maiden..."

Daisuke, after spending some time mentally analyzing Miko's warning, knew that something was about to go wrong with Mami. The merchant grabbed his gun, and went to the Supermarket as quickly as he could. Upon arriving there, he sees a crowd of police officers, EMTs and news reporters gathered on its outdoor parking lot.

Daisuke then spots Mami in front of the Supermarket entrance, giving her eyewitness account to an ICPD officer.

Mami also noticed Daisuke from where she stood. "Daisuke!" The young lady called out, raising a hand up to signal her position.

"Mami!" Daisuke called back as he ran toward the young lady.

The Kirisame couples ran toward each other, and hugged emotionally.

"Thank goodness you were safe..." Daisuke said.

"I was glad to see you, ze..." Mami replies. "First, there were these Pakmunjeong Mafioso who were after me for some reason, and then those sadists calling themselves the Yadoshima Syndicate came and started shooting up the Supermarket for their own amusement..."

Daisuke took notice when Mami mentioned the name of the second gang. "The Yadoshima Syndicate?! It was amazing that you came out of those sadists' Boredom Killers unscathed!"

The young lady hugged the merchant tighter. "I was glad I didn't even get grazed. Apparently, they treated Outside World atrocities as comedies. I would say they are the sadist of sadists, ze."

Miko interrupted the Kirisame couples all of a sudden. "You should be glad about coming out unscathed. All of the Yadoshima Syndicate's previous Boredom Killers resulted in more casualties than the other three gangs' total kill counts added up. And that's not counting the sometimes intentional friendly fires."

When that is said, the Kirisame couples released each other from their hug, and Daisuke turned toward Miko.

"Its a good thing that you gave those sadists a one-way ticket to Higan, while leaving their pockets empty so that they can't pay the ferryman for crossing the Sanzu." The merchant told the Rural Shrine Maiden as he gave her a thumbs-up.

Mami looked around the parking lot as though looking for someone. "Speaking of which, where's May Lee?"

Miko pointed a finger over her shoulders. "Giving eyewitness accounts to another ICPD officer."

She was right. May Lee is indeed doing exactly what Miko said she is.

"Speaking of eyewitness accounts..." Miko then says to Mami. "I do believe you should finish giving yours first. The officer that was asking you some questions is getting impatient..."

* * *

 **Afterwords**

It's the third chapter of this supposedly mind-screwing pseudo-prequel to _Fantasy Blitzkrieg_ already, and still no nothing that relates to a mind screw? Well, I'm actually working the story up to a very big one.

And... Sorry for being much later at updating than usual. I got hooked up by the open beta of _Metal Slug Attack_ , and it was so fun and challenging that I almost forgot about updating the stories. I'll talk more about _MSA_ in the next update to _Metal Slug: Mercenaries_.

As for the Yadoshima Syndicate... Yes, they are drug-high, alcohol-high and tobacco-high 24/7, and it made them so much of a bunch of sadists that they use footage of the Auschwitz Death Camps _as comedies_. They are also so proud of their powerful weaponry that they think taking cover and giving support is irrelevant trash. Oh, please, Yadoshima, there's a reason soldiers take cover and give support even if they have bigger guns than their opponents.

Shout-out index:

Old Industrial District - Not really a shout-out. But for this one, I recycled the similar Abandoned Industrial District of Toshov, Makrantia from _Fantasy Blitzkrieg: Mission Two_ , and made one or two changes to make it fit the half-magical half-technological nature of 2060s Gensokyo ( _Fantasy Blitzkrieg_ takes place in the 2120s in case you've forgotten).

 _"Keep in touch, as in like this?"_ \- Not the dialogue itself, but this scene references one in Studio Ghibli's _Laputa: Castle In The Sky_. Specifically that one on the airship where the female lead is told by the airship captain to "use the phone for later communications" or something like that, and she calls the captain via said phone less than a second later.

That is all. _"Until then..."_


	5. Chapter 4: Dying Seemed A Better Option

**Forewords**

Okay, fellow writers, I know its a key element of being a writer to ask for feedback to your writings. But there are times that you're better off not getting any feedback from anyone because, one: the people you're asking feedback for doesn't understand what you expressed in your writings, and criticize you for it; two: they're stuck with their own personal ideas so much they automatically criticize anything that differs; and three: they fail to properly word their feedback, to the point that the feedback becomes indistinguishable from criticism.

If you are the one giving feedback, you should take the following points into account as well. One: word your feedback carefully, lest your feedback becomes indistinguishable from criticism and ended up unintentionally pissing off the person asking for feedback; two: don't be OCD when giving your feedback, that is, don't give humongous criticisms for a single miniscule mistake or deviation; three: make sure your feedback stays on topic, which means that if the writer ask for feedback on _Touhou_ fan works, you must not suddenly veer toward _Kantai Collection_ or _Team Fortress 2_ if neither gets mentioned at all (comparisons are acceptable but full-on topic-changing is not); four: do _**NOT**_ submit nonsense such as "I like Tacos" or "I want to marry you!" or "LOLOLOL" as feedback, generous writers will just ignore the nonsense whereas serious writers will fight back via PM or - worst case scenario - report your nonsense post to the moderators; and five: if you dislike the story in some way, tell the writer why you disliked it, as simply saying you disliked it with no reason to back up your claim only puts you in a horrible limelight

And most importantly: give your feedback in _**THE WRITER'S LANGUAGE**_ , as an English speaking writer don't understand Spanish no matter how commonly spoken you think Spanish is (I've seen Spanish people writing Spanish posts in a _pure_ _Japanese_ forum). Take Danbooru and its offshoots for example, people posting in them are from all over the world, yet every single comments and forum posts are in English, even those written by Egyptians or Italians or Russians or Japanese. Because the people at Danbooru knows that you do not expect an international community to understand your native language without looking up a dictionary. To you Spaniards: Spanish is not an international language, so please speak in English when surfing the internet.

Now that my PSA has been delivered, let's get back to the mind screwing proper...

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Dying Seemed A Better Option**

 _"The only thing that was actually keeping crime at bay was Reimu's mother - Miko Hakurei. The citizens of Ignobilium City would rather have her than the police, and it may be because of pride that the police would occasionally put her under arrest, with obstruction of justice as the excuse._

 _Actually, they were most likely corrupt._

 _As both Miko's friend and the presidential secretary, I was the only person with the authority to keep her on the streets, so that she can continue to protect the citizens from the threats that are the four gangs - the Pakmunjeong Mafia, Tuskachevy Mafiya, Al-Jihad Clan, and Yadoshima Syndicate._

 _But everything truly changed when one day, new players have entered the game from out of nowhere..."_

 _..._

Time: 1800 Hour; 26th of December, 2067.

Location: Abandoned Military Base; Outskirts of Ignobilium City, Democratic States of Gensokyo.

The Abandoned Military Base, whose true name was long forgotten by both the public and government of the DSG, sits several kilometers due west from the Old Industrial District.

The watchtowers, barracks and hangars are all just as weathered as the buildings of the Old Industrial District are. Outdated military vehicles, models of both Gensokyian-made and recycled from the Outside World were left inside the buildings to collect dust have became a pseudo-habitat for formless ghosts.

It is also the only place in the DSG where the Pakmunjeong Mafia, Tuskachevy Mafiya, Al-Jihad Clan and Yadoshima Syndicate can hold negotiations without the meeting evolving into a fight of any sort.

The Pakmunjeong Mafia's Negotiator stood next to a heavily weathered (and beyond repair) main battle tank, as he looked with a pair of narrowed eyes at the Yadoshima Syndicate's Negotiator in front of him.

The two are soon joined by two more individuals - respectively the Tuskachevy Mafiya and Al-Jihad Clan's Negotiators.

The Pakmunjeong Negotiator was the first to speak, with his sentence directed at the Yadoshima Negotiator. "You were expecting my colleagues to not launch an attack on your home base, even despite the fact that your colleagues have had another one of these so-called Boredom Killers at the Supermarket, when we were there doing something that truly served a purpose for us?"

The Yadoshima Negotiator scoffed. "No, no. I'm expecting you to attack Yadoshima Command, even though I'm 100% percent positive you won't make it past the impenetrable front gate." The Yadoshima Negotiator raised both his arms to demonstrate that he has no weapons with him. "Also, I'm unarmed..."

The Tuskachevy Negotiator interrupted. "As far as I know, you and your fellow pridurok compared 'impenetrable' to 'totally demolished by a handful'..."

The Al-Jihad Negotiator also interrupted. "And one does not need weapons to pose any threat in the Sanctuaries..."

The Yadoshima Negotiator shifted his sight from one Negotiator to another, all while keeping his hands raised and visible in plain sight. "Oh, silly me..." He said sarcastically. "You don't just assume someone is harmless when you live in a land where almost everyone can use magic..."

Before the Yadoshima Negotiator can finish his sarcastic statement, a crossbow bolt came out of nowhere and penetrated his neck, just barely missing his throat and solar plexus. The same shot caught the other Negotiators by surprise.

"Ow..." The Yadoshima Negotiator acted as though the obstructive projectile in his neck was just a needle prick. "You really can't feel the pain when you're under the influence 24/7..." He then puts his hands down. "So, shall we get back to negotiating about keeping one's foot off the others' home ba..."

Before the Yadoshima Negotiator can finish his statement, the crossbow bolt lodged in his neck suddenly emitted a series of beeps that quickly intensifies over the span of three seconds before going off in a big explosion, disintegrating his entire upper body outright.

The same explosion threw the other three Negotiators off their feet.

"What is this insolent trick?!" The Al-Jihad Negotiator demanded furiously, as he picked himself up from the ground. "Answer!" He yelled out and pulled an assault rifle from Perception Hammerspace, which he points at the other Negotiators.

Before the Pakmunjeong and Tuskachevy Negotiators can even think of a response, a humanoid shadow bolted past the Al-Jihad Negotiator... and sliced his head clean off. The Al-Jihad Negotiator's severed head rolled near his feet for a few second, before his headless body collapsed on the concrete ground, blood spewing out from the stump that was his head.

When the Pakmunjeong Negotiator tried to pick himself up, something socked him right in between his eyes, knocking him down again as well as making his sight all blurry.

Through his blurry vision, he could identify another humanoid shape slowly sneaking toward the Tuskachevy Negotiator from behind, and then, even though the Tuskachevy Negotiator is at least a head taller, the unknown assailant manages to hold him in a headlock before simply snapping his neck.

Now frantic beyond reason, the Pakmunjeong Negotiator whipped out his SMG, and yelled loudly as he unloaded the entire magazine at the unknown assailant despite his still blurry vision.

The unknown assailant responded to the unloading (whether the shots hit them or they are just spooked is hard to tell with the blurry vision) and quickly scampers away. But then a different unknown assailant fired what sounded like a shotgun from outside the Pakmunjeong Negotiator's blurry field of vision, and blasted the SMG out of his hand, as well as tearing one of his hands clean off.

The Pakmunjeong Negotiator cried out in pain as he held tightly onto the bleeding stump of an arm with his intact hand. Seeing through his blurry vision that more unknown assailants are approaching him, he crawled backwards continuously in fear until he backed himself all the way against the same main battle tank he stood next to moments ago.

By that point, about five unknown assailants have had the Pakmunjeong Negotiator surrounded.

One of the unknown assailant brought the muzzle of a shotgun right above the Pakmunjeong Negotiator's head, and fired it without a warning. The shot missed, but it could be intentional by using the loudness of the shot to make his ears ring.

Now he couldn't hear clearly.

A different unknown assailant proceeded to point something right at his face point-blank. He couldn't tell what the object is since his vision is still blurry, but he can still see enough to tell that it most definitely is neither sword nor gun.

This unknown assailant then said something. The ringing of his ears prevented him from properly hearing the voice, but he could still hear the words being told to him.

"Let this be the message to Ignobilium City that we the Black Hats are in town..."

A bright light being emitted from the unknown weapon made the Pakmunjeong Negotiator shut his eyes tightly as it blinded him even further. When he opened his eyes again, he could see his surroundings clearly again...

...And he found himself in Higan, right next to the Sanzu River, alongside the other gangs' Negotiators.

...

Time: 1830 Hour.

Location: Kirisame Household, Block 7, Residential Apartments.

"You sure pulled yourself too hard by not saying anything about these glass shards... For several hours straight."

Daisuke told Miko as he carefully removed tiny glass shards from her knuckles using a pair of chopsticks. The tiny glass shards are deposited into a pile that sits above a sheet of kitchen towel.

"Occupational requirement..." Miko gave a flat response. "A hand-to-hand fighter needs to be very pain tolerant."

Despite her claims, the Rural Shrine Maiden still noticeably winces when Daisuke accidentally applied too much force in removing a particularly sharp tiny glass shard.

"But pain is sometimes good." The merchant gave a not-so-flat counter-response. "It helps you know how much you can take before going down, and that's exactly what the Yadoshima Syndicate lacked."

Having removed all glass shards from Miko's knuckles, Daisuke sets the chopsticks aside, and procured a roll of bandages from the first aid kit, which the merchant carefully wraps around the Rural Shrine Maiden's knuckles (easier said than done in this case since there's enough cuts that each of her fingers needs to be wrapped individually). Daisuke then cuts the bandages from the main roll with a scissor from the first aid kit.

"There..." Daisuke told Miko. "If you absolutely need to throw a punch, try making sure that your target is made of flesh." He then puts the scissor and bandage roll back into the first aid kit neatly. "Heck, with this many cuts, it is best that you write punches off your list of available attacks for a while..."

"Telling me to not throw any punches is like telling Mami not to... borrow anything." Miko makes a verbal counterattack in response.

Surprisingly, Mami made no comment on Miko's verbal counterattack to Daisuke despite her clearly hearing it. She seemed much more interested on what's on the television right now. "Uh, you two... You might want to check this out, ze..."

Saying nothing else, Miko and Daisuke shifted their view on the television, in which the Gensokyo News Channel has forcefully interrupted the current program.

 _"We interrupt your current program to bring you this breaking news. Just now, ICPD has found four fresh corpses in the Abandoned Military Base, respectively belonging to the Negotiators of the Pakmunjeong Mafia, Tuskachevy Mafiya, Al-Jihad Clan_ and _Yadoshima Syndicate..."_

"The Negotiators of _all four_ gangs?" Daisuke expressed surprise as the breaking news continued.

 _"ICPD has determined that the Negotiators did not kill each other because all four of them were killed by weapons which neither of them have. Which begs the question: who did?"_

"Whoever did this have managed to leave the scene without leaving any clues behind..." Miko pointed out when the news cameraman focused the filming on the four Negotiator's corpses.

 _"In fact, this is such a great mystery that Presidential Secretary Yakumo Yukari has personally arrived at the scene to take a look herself. Perhaps she might know something."_ The camera then shifted toward Yukari, who at the moment is conversing with the ICPD police chief. _"Miss Yakumo, mind if I ask you some question?"_ The reporter interrupted the presidential secretary.

"Yukari?" Miko herself expressed surprise at the presidential secretary's presence at the scene.

In the live broadcasted news, Yukari can be seen dismissing the ICPD police chief before turning toward the reporter.

And then, by some form of unlucky coincidence, the TV screen cuts back to the GNC studio just as soon as Yukari was about to speak to the reporter. _"Oh, we seem to have encountered our first technical problem of the decade..."_ The news anchor lamented. _"We'll let your program continue as normal until we can get a signal back from our reporter. Sorry for the inconveniences, folks..."_

And with that, the breaking news ended, and the channel went back to its usual schedule.

"Jeez, I'd hate to have a run-in with whoever sent those four to Higan in a single run..." Mami lamented as she switches the television off.

"A new player in town, maybe?" Daisuke wondered about the main topic of the breaking news.

"This could be more than the implication of such individual, or individuals..." Miko voiced her opinion in a tone more serious than usual. "I think an inside job is possible..."

The Kirisame couples looked at the Rural Shrine Maiden, both of them wide-eyed with confusion. "Inside job?" They both said in unison.

"Don't you think it is too much of a coincidence that the GNC's first technical problem of the decade _just_ happened to be on a breaking news about the demise of the four gangs' Negotiators at the same time in the same place?" Miko pointed out to the Kirisame couples. "The technical problem also happened to be right before Yukari was about to answer some maybe important questions about the matter..."

Daisuke thought of the implications for a minute. Then he said, "If there really are new players in town, we will have to keep an eye out for anyone suspicious."

"Especially after the fact those Pakmunjeong morons tried to kidnap me, ze." Mami added in. "And because of that and the whatchacallit Syndicate..."

"Yadoshima Syndicate." Both Miko and Daisuke corrected the young lady.

"...And the Yadoshima Syndicate's so-called Boredom Killers that the police closed down the Supermarket for the next two weeks." Mami continued her sulking. "Now I'm temporarily out of a job, and so is May Lee..."

"Then you should find a temporal job elsewhere." Miko told Mami, as she stood up from the sofa. The Rural Shrine Maiden approached the main door, and stopped just short of it to deliver another sentence. "If you find it necessary, punch any suspicious people you meet right in the face, or put a bullet through their skull as a last resort."

With that said, Miko opened the main door of the Kirisame couples' apartment room and left.

...

Location: Parking lot, Residential Apartments.

The first thing Miko saw as she exited Block 7 of the Residential Apartments is May Lee knocking someone down on the pavement.

That someone happened to be the Pakmunjeong Mafia's Lieutenant, Choi.

"당신은 여기를 하지 않습니다 환영..." [You are not welcomed here, (Choi)...] May Lee said to the Pakmunjeong Lieutenant as she threw a punch that stopped just short of the tip of his nose.

Without picking himself up, Choi pulled out a handgun from Perception Hammerspace, and pointed it at May Lee.

May Lee attempted to throw a punch straight at the Pakmunjeong Lieutenant, but both of them were interrupted when Miko threw a pebble at the handgun, knocking it out of Choi's hands.

"If you have a good reason for being here, Choi..." Miko said to the Pakmunjeong Lieutenant. "Say it before one of us decides to break your jaw."

May Lee stepped back as Choi picked himself up from the pavement. He dusted himself clean of dirt before saying: "The Pure Crystals that your friend's girlfriend wore... You can tell the Kirisame couple that we don't need them anymore..."

Miko slowly approached Choi, ready to throw a punch in case the Pakmunjeong Lieutenant tries anything funny. "Why? Is it because you know you can't ever manage to lay a finger on Mami?"

Choi didn't try anything funny, he just took a step back without doing anything else. "Why go after such miniscule amounts when you have just got your hands on a cache of it?"

"A cache? Of these Pure Crystals?" May Lee was confused by Choi's statement.

Miko took note of what Choi said, as she grabbed him by his collar. "What cache? Where did the Pakmunjeong get it?"

Choi just gave a malicious chuckle. "That is none of your business, Hakurei shrine maiden..."

Miko was about to throw an angry punch at Choi (despite remembering Daisuke's warnings about not doing so with both hands wrapped in bandages), but quickly decided against it. "It is, if it involved the Kirisame couples." She told him calmly.

With that said, the Rural shrine maiden released her grip on Choi's shirt collar. The Pakmunjeong Lieutenant took several more steps back.

"Whatever you say, Hakurei shrine maiden. But just so you remember: Ignobilium will one day tremble whenever the Pakmunjeong or Park Ryeong-Han is mentioned..." Choi warned Miko, and May Lee to some extent. "Until next time we meet again..."

Choi then departs from the scene by dropping another one of his flash bombs, using the eye-blinding flash to make his getaway.

Miko and May Lee both shielded their eyes from the blinding flash with their hands. They both put their hands back down when the flash dissipated.

"I could have broken his neck, rid the entire city of one of its many rats..." May Lee sulked about the Pakmunjeong Lieutenant escaping.

"If he is truly here to just deliver a message, let him be..." Miko told the Tae Kwon Do fighter, as she got on her motorcycle and started the engines. "And since the news just mentioned the death of the four gangs' Negotiators at the same time and same place by the hands of unknown individuals, pay extra attention to your surroundings."

Without waiting for a response from May Lee, the Rural Shrine Maiden left the Parking Lot and then sped down the main road on her motorcycle.

"If I do meet these unknown individuals, I will most definitely break their neck." May Lee told herself.

...

Time: 1900 Hour.

Location: Abandoned Warehouse, Downtown.

In downtown Ignobilium City, there was a warehouse that appeared to be abandoned at first glance. It is also located in a rather overlooked portion of downtown that few citizens of Ignobilum or anywhere from Gensokyo for that matters ever visits. The few people that do come to this portion of the downtown paid little to no attention to the abandoned warehouse that sat there by itself.

At least, that's what the current owners of the warehouse counted on.

At the back gate of the warehouse, a cargo truck driven by a Pakmunjeong Mafioso slowly backed into the warehouse compounds as the driver is being guided by a second Mafioso.

After the truck has fully entered the warehouse compound, a third and fourth Mafiosi went and quickly closed the back gate.

The Mafioso driving the truck got off the driver seat and went to open the door of the cargo compartment. He showed the other Mafiosi the contents of the cargo truck: a single box, filled to the brim with Pure Crystals.

The second Mafioso signaled the third and fourth to unload the box from the cargo truck and carry it into the warehouse.

But then, as the third and fourth Mafiosi are about to get to work, something suddenly caused the second Mafioso to signal them to stop. After a few seconds of silence, the second Mafioso whipped out a SMG and aim it at the back gate. The other three Mafiosi followed suit as well, the second and third whipping out SMGs too while the first whipped out a shotgun.

All four Mafiosi aimed their guns at the back gate for several tense seconds, preparing to shoot whatever or whoever may be on the other side of it.

The person on the other side of the back gate proceeds to somersault over the back gate and land in front of the Mafiosi on two feet. The person is revealed to be the Rural Shrine Maiden - Miko Hakurei.

Miko whipped out her nun-chucks and quickly swatted the SMGs out of the hands of the third and fourth Mafiosi before they can fire, and then follows the disarming with knocking them out cold.

The second Mafioso grabs the opportunity to fire his SMG at Miko, but the Rural Shrine Maiden was able to deflect all those bullets using her nun-chucks and reflexes. After closing in on the second Mafioso, she finished him off by high-kicking him in the face.

The first Mafioso begins to blindly unload one shotgun shell after another. As the spread-out pattern of the shotgun pellets made it impossible to deflect them with nun-chucks, Miko opted to dodge the initial shot by jumping into the air and then closing in on the first Mafioso via somersault.

The Rural Shrine Maiden landed directly in front of the first Mafioso, and quickly pushes the gun barrel aside at the same moment he pulled the trigger, causing the next shot to be wasted on taking out a (already broken) security camera.

Miko finishes the round by pulling the shotgun out of the Mafioso's hand and dropping it on the ground before she breaks the weapon by stepping on it really hard.

The Rural Shrine Maiden then puts her nun-chucks away and knocks the Mafioso onto the ground, using her left hand to keep both his hands pinned.

"I have a question to ask, and I expect you to answer it." Miko threatened the Mafioso with a serious tone.

The Mafioso defies the threat by staying silent.

Seeing that the Mafioso had just defied her via silence, Miko decided to break his resolve by grabbing one of her Sai swords from Perception Hammerspace with her right hand, and stabs the Mafioso on the shoulder with it.

The Mafioso yelled out in pain, as blood begins to pour out of the stab wound.

"I know you Pakmunjeong Mafia scums are not the type to chew the scenery, but I know that you people aren't speech impaired." Miko told the Mafioso with an even more threatening tone. "So tell me, where and how did you people get your hands on this box of Pure Crystals?"

The Mafioso struggles to answer. "O...only th...the Godfather k...knows..."

But Miko was able to see that it was a lie, and makes the interrogation much more painful to the Mafioso by stabbing him on the exact same sport, this time penetrating deeper. "Don't lie to me. Park Ryeong-Han never keeps these type of things to himself."

The Mafioso yelled out again in pain. "Th...the box fell...fell off the ba...back of a pickup truck... in the mid...middle of... central downtown..."

Knowing its the truth this time but not satisfied with the answer, Miko plucked the Sai sword out of the Mafioso's shoulder, and pressed its flat against the back of his head. "Did you see the face of whoever's driving the pickup truck?"

"N...no..." The Mafioso struggles out his answer.

As much as she hates to accept it, Miko could tell that the Pakmunjeong Mafioso answered this one truthfully. Satisfied with the interrogation, the Rural Shrine Maiden puts the Sai sword back into Perception Hammerspace, and stepped away from the Mafioso.

"Then tell Park Ryeong-Han that he should not take coincidences as granted..." She told the Mafioso, before left the warehouse compound by jumping over the back gate where she entered from.

The Mafioso spends the next few seconds thinking of the implications of Miko's words before he passed out from blood loss.

* * *

 **Afterwords**

Oh my, what a sudden twist...

Ignobilium City's four most infamous gangs having their possibly-high-ranking members being offed at the same time and same place by a possible fifth gang? This could be the twist that I needed to develop the mind-screwing elements of this pseudo-prequel.

And there probably is something suspicious about the Pakmunjeong Mafia suddenly stumbling across a box full of Pure Crystals, right when they were specifically looking for the material, no less. Additionally, Chapter 2 established the fact that Pure Crystals are not only super-expensive even in tiny amounts, but sold _exclusively in Wonderland_ as well. So what was the driver of that pickup truck doing with a whole load of the stuff? And let's not even begin on the coincidental "first technical glitch in a decade" that just happened to be right before an important clue...

Shout-out index:

"...the Godfather..." - Considering that Park Ryeong-Han is officially the boss of Choi, the Lieutenant of the Pakmunjeong _Mafia_ , he might be qualified to call himself _The Godfather_...

That is all. _"Until then..."_


	6. Chapter 5: And Then Everything Changed

**Forewords**

Been away for about a month, so let's do a recap of the story so far.

The whole story had been Yukari's reminiscence about the origins of the Council Of Sanctuaries and Neverland Convention, expies of the United Nations and Geneva Convention respectively.

Over 60 years before the events of _Fantasy Blitzkrieg_ (and by extension decades before _Highly Responsive To Prayers_ ) which chronologically began in 2125 AD, Gensokyo wasn't such a technologically primitive (or not as anachronistic as it is today) sealed realm or Sanctuary, and did not have an almost entirely female population. Back then, Gensokyo was actually called the Democratic States Of Gensokyo. Its hub central is neither the Human Village nor Tengu Village nor Makai's Pandemonium, but a thriving modern metropolis called Ignobilium City.

Ignobilium is actually a crime-filled hellhole where the four most infamous groups of gangsters are as heavily armed as an armed forces, so much that the then government plans to replace the city's police force with the army, as well as completely abolishing gun control so that the citizens stood a chance at surviving.

Then one day, the aforementioned four gangs have their high-ranking members assassinated simultaneously in the same area, the assassins leaving so little clue that investigators are stumped completely. The main character, Miko Hakurei, suspects that something is amiss with the assassination when it was reported on the news...

And that's it for the recap. Let's go back to the storyline proper.

* * *

 **Chapter 5: And Then Everything Changed...**

 _"Everyone thought the situation could not get any worse than it already is._

 _But it did._

 _On one unexpected day, Gensokyo had caught a spark that soon ignited into something even worse than what it is already facing down..."_

...

Time: 0900 Hour; 27th of December, 2067.

Location: Little Fairy Café; Central Ignobilium City, Democratic States Of Gensokyo.

The Little Fairy Café in central Ignobilium City is one of the few places in the crime-filled capitol of the DSG where the city's inhabitants can take their mind off the ruckuses caused by the Pakmunjeong Mafia, Al-Jihad Clan, Tuskachevy Mafiya, the Yadoshima Syndicate and most recently, a possible fifth gang that announced their presence by killing off the aforementioned four gangs' Negotiators simultaneously.

The café is also the only place in the city that every gang, not just the most infamous four, had not or outright refused to lay their hands on. The cafe's average-to-low daily income, relatively small space, lack of impractically fancy décor and the fact that its employees and customers usually don't carry much valuables with them helped protect it from prying hands of the city's wicked. The Pakmunjeong Mafia has no reason to rob it; the Al-Jihad Clan simply isn't interested in it; the Tuskachevy Mafiya's reason for not laying their hands there remains unknown (though some citizens believed that's because one of the cafe's employees is a relative of the Mafiya's boss); and the Yadoshima Syndicate because there are too little elements there to make any one of their Boredom Killers interesting should one take place.

Of course, that doesn't mean its customers won't lament about anything else.

"Being unemployed sucks, ze..." Complained a bored Mami Kirisame as she took a bite from the sandwich she ordered. "Even if its temporarily, it sucks..."

"You can blame those idiots and their Boredom Killers for it." Said Daisuke Kirisame as he slowly stirred his cup of coffee. "At least no good guys were hurt in it..."

Mami, out of frustration, took a large chunk right out of her sandwich. "But still, it left me out of a job."

Daisuke finishes stirring his cup of coffee, and took a sip from it. "Still a lot better than two days ago. A standoff happened that went so bad an entire plaza was closed down for a month, and even Wonderland's news agencies called it 'the bloodiest Christmas ever happened in any Sanctuary'..."

Mami finishes her sandwich in a way that left bread crumbs all over the table. "Well, if there's anything in the sealed world that citizens of Ignobilium City are afraid of more than the infamous gang wars, ze..."

Daisuke also finishes his coffee. "Actually, there is..."

The merchant is then interrupted when a ceiling-hung plasma TV in the café caught the attention of customers and baristas alike, and everyone started to talk about it.

"What... On... Gaia...?" Both Daisuke and Mami exclaimed in unison.

The TV showed a breaking news. Only this time, it has nothing to do with Ignobilium City's gang wars in any way.

 _"We interrupt your current program to bring you this very breaking news. About an hour ago, the military and government have received a message from Gensokyian intelligence saying that apparently on the previous day, the Lunar Kingdom has conducted a nuclear missile firing test, this one with the capability to strike down not just Gensokyo, but any Sanctuary in the sealed world, as well as countries in the Outside World..."_

"That..." Daisuke told Mami, still surprised by the breaking news. "...Is the only thing the citizens of Ignobilium are afraid of more than the city's gang wars..." The merchant lifted his coffee cup and allowed the last drop of coffee in it to drip into his mouth. After that, he wiped his mouth and continues, "...The Lunar Kingdom's nuclear arsenal..."

 _"This marked the isolated Mythology Sanctuary's second nuclear arms test, 167 years since the first one is detonated on the year 1901 over an Outside World region known as Tunguska. The Lunar Kingdom's ruler, Tsukuyomi Houraisan personally oversaw the weapon being tested, which was also broadcasted on live footage all over the Kingdom. Shortly after the missile test, the entire Lunar Kingdom was given a speech by Major General Watatsuki No Yorihime of the Lunar Defense Force. Footage is from the Lunar Kingdom's official news agency, with translations in effect..."_

The breaking news then turns to show the aforementioned footage. In Major General Watatsuki No Yorihime's own words: _"This weapon... Will be the Lunar Kingdom's ticket to victory. Victory... Over the impure scums of Earth, whom bears such flags as the Stars And Stripes, Hammer And Sickle, and the Five-Star Red Flag! It will also be our ticket to victory... Over the scums of Gaia such as Gensokyo, Wonderland, and more!"_

Mami can't help but comment about the news. "Geez, that Moon-Bitch sure chewed up what scenery the Lunar Kingdom has left, ze..."

The sound of a bell ringing indicates that someone has just entered the Little Fairy Café.

The Kirisame couple turned toward the main entrance, and saw Miko Hakurei standing there, with a newspaper in hand.

"You saw the news report just now, didn't you?" The Rural Shrine Maiden asked the couple.

Daisuke and Mami both nodded.

"Well, apparently..." Miko was about to tell them something, but stopped mid sentence because the breaking news report has already broadcasted the message to every customer and barista in the Café.

 _"Meanwhile, the Royal Wonderlandean Armed Forces have rolled out their tanks and attack helicopters in response, while urging other Fairy Tale Sanctuaries to do the same with their armed forces. Mythology Sanctuaries, both technologically primitive and advanced ones are divided on whether they should do something about the emerging crisis..."_

"There. The news anchor just said it..." Miko changed her sentence.

Daisuke turned toward the TV, then back at the Rural Shrine Maiden. "I thought the Lunarians were only interested in destroying Gensokyo and the Stars And Stripes?"

Miko passed the newspaper in her hand to Daisuke. "Not quite. Many Gensokyians thought that was the case. In reality, the Lunarians wanted to raze any Sanctuary and Outside World country that they deemed have the capability to attack them."

Daisuke then flips open the newspaper in his hand, and sees that the headline reads out: _"Wonderland named by Lunar Kingdom as new target of Apocalypse Weapons!"_

"However..." Miko added. "This is the first time the Lunar Kingdom has named a Fairy Tale Sanctuary - in this case, Wonderland - as a target to be destroyed. The Wonderlandeans may have been preparing themselves for a future Lunarian incursion, but they were themselves surprised to be named as a target."

Daisuke looked at the newspaper headline, then at the TV...

 _"Wonderlandean intelligence concluded that Wonderland being named a nuclear bombing target by the Lunar Kingdom may have something to do with the Fairy Tale Sanctuary becoming almost as powerful as the Democratic States Of Gensokyo, which is despised by the Lunarians. It was also on about eight years ago that Wonderland tried to apply sanctions on the Lunar Kingdom for their 1901 Tunguska Nuclear Test, which became a dead end for the former's government as no response came from the latter."_

...And then back at Miko. "Well, I think I've also hit a dead end on the topic..."

Miko doesn't look dissatisfied in any way. "I didn't come here to tell you about the Lunar Kingdom, anyway..."

The Kirisame couples both became confused upon hearing that.

"Then why are you here?" Mami asked.

Miko turned around and began to walk out of the Little Fairy Café. "Only to inform you that I will be at the Wonderlandean Embassy, in case you need me for a dire emergency."

...

Location: Presidential Office, The Black House; Ignobilium City.

"What about the Outside World?"

That was what Secretary Yukari Yakumo said in surprised when asked a question by President Atrius Stone.

"Yes. What about it?" The President of the DSG sat behind his desk, and leaned against his chair. "Wonderland made it clear and mandatory that no one Sanctuary shall ever get itself involved with Outside World affairs, whether directly or indirectly. But I'm still interested in getting this question answered."

Yukari sighed before answering. "I believe... the Lunar Kingdom added the Hammer And Sickle and the Five-Star Red Flag to their nuclear hit list because those two countries have also made successful landings on the moon... With better results than the Stars And Stripes, I believe." The Presidential Secretary explains. "Sooner or later, the Lunarians will add the Union Jack and Rising Sun to their hit list for the same reason."

President Stone tapped on his desk multiple times. "So I get that any Outside World countries with the capability to run a successful moon landing mission is added to the Lunarians' hit list. But the news also mentioned that apparently, Major General Watatsuki No Yorihime had added Wonderland - a Fairy Tale Sanctuary - to the hit list. The Wonderlandeans not only lacked the capability, they are also uninterested about going to the moon. So I wonder why?"

Yukari gives a second answer. "Aside from Wonderland's sanctions on the Lunar Kingdom, Wonderland being named as a target may have something to do with it being the fastest at modernizing its society and military. In fact, so fast that Wonderland is becoming almost as powerful as Gensokyo... And the Union Jack."

There's something about the answer that President Stone is confused about. "The Union Jack, not the Stars And Stripes?"

Yukari leaned slightly toward the president of the DSG. "Please, Mr President, Wonderland hates the Stars And Stripes just as much as the Lunar Kingdom does, albeit for an entirely different reason."

President Stone stands up and leans toward his secretary. "And what reason is that?"

Yukari took a step back before answering, "Well... The Wonderlandeans believed that Prime Ministers are idiots, Premiers have butt kissers as underlings, and Presidents are hypocrites. And hypocrisy is exactly what the Stars And Stripes' government is." She then takes the opportunity to add, "And you, President Atrius Stone, in particular, is known by them as an idiot hypocrite commanding a bunch of butt kissers."

President Stone became stumped by the last part. He sat back down, and just sat there for a full ten seconds before responding, "Okay, you know what? Let's leave Wonderland's opinion for some other times. In the meantime, try to get me an official of the Lunar Kingdom, on the phone if they do agree to talk." The president snaps his fingers in a commanding manner. "Those purists need to answer some questions, whether be it over the embassy's dining table, a phone line or a piece of heavy artillery."

"Yes, sir." Yukari nodded in confirmation before excusing herself from the Presidential Office. As she is leaving, the secretary can be heard saying "The White House and Kremlin had it easy in the 1960s..."

...

Location: Outside Little Fairy Café; central Ignobilium City.

After paying for their orders, the Kirisame couples walked out of Little Fairy Café. By that time, Miko has already gone out of sight.

"The Wonderlandean Embassy...?" Daisuke wondered about what he was told. "Going there when the news mentioned Wonderland, yet for an entirely different reason..."

"I don't know much about foreign policies, ze..." Mami said as she walked beside Daisuke. "But I do know that you don't simply waltz into another Sanctuary's Embassy..."

"...Unless with an urgent matter regarding said 'another Sanctuary'..." Daisuke finishes Mami's sentence. "So, anything else you need to do today?"

"Nope..." Mami gives her answer instantly. "I'm out of a job. And as far as I remember, we're still pretty stocked up on daily essentials, ze."

Daisuke looks at his watch for a short while. "I have some documents on trades to sit through, anyway. So let's go ho..."

All of a sudden, someone in a jet black full body suit appeared out of nowhere and snatched Mami's wallet right out of her hand.

"Hey!" Mami exclaimed in surprise before giving chase to the snatch thief.

Daisuke is just as surprised. "Stop! Thief!" He cried out. In response, the merchant pulled out a handgun and aimed it at the snatch thief, only to immediately put the gun away when it clicked in indication of an empty magazine. "Damn, should have bought a spare mag along!"

Realizing that the snatch thief runs a whole lot faster than she does, Mami tries to take down the snatch thief by pulling out her magic wand and casting an attack spell. The spell missed, and covered a wall of graffiti with soot.

The snatch thief then disappears around a corner.

In frustration, Mami kicked a nearby lamppost hard enough to dislodge its service panel. "Godsdammit!"

Daisuke rejoins Mami. "An even bigger 'Damn it!' is that none of the pedestrians here even looked at the snatch thief..." He said, noting that everyone else in the street are focused solely on what they are currently doing. "This is the price of living in a technologically advanced but crime-rampant city." Daisuke then kicks the same lamppost, dislodging its service panel even further. "Everyone are so used to the gang wars, they barely pay any attention to simple crimes like daylight robbery."

Mami throws her arms up and sighs in disbelief. "I missed the Human Village, ze..." The young lady lamented. "It may be primitive in comparison and commonly visited by Youkai, but at least it is a lot safer than Ignobilium City..."

Daisuke puts an arm around Mami's shoulders. "Yeah. The ICPD only respond to gang-related crimes and Miko's attempts to...how should I put it? _Steal_ their job. The Human Village's GPF isn't as well equipped, but they would _at least_ try to put all forms of baddies behind bars."

Mami sighs again. "This sucks, ze. Let's go home..."

...

Location: Wonderlandean Embassy; Human Village.

It is because of Ignobilium City's being infamously prone to gang wars (in which the gangs have access to military hardware) that other Sanctuaries' embassies or high commissions are located anywhere in the Democratic States of Gensokyo _but_ its capitol. One such example is Wonderland's Embassy to the DSG, which is located in the Human Village.

It is pretty easy to spot the Wonderlandean Embassy in the Human Village, because it is the only building with a Western architecture in contrast to the Village's mainly Asian architecture.

A rather surprising fact is that there are currently no Wonderlandean soldiers standing guard at the embassy. Usually, the Wonderlandean Embassy is so heavily guarded even an ant couldn't crawl in unnoticed.

In the Wonderlandean Ambassador's office, the Ambassador is busy shuffling through a series of documents, most of them delivered straight from Wonderlandean intelligence in regards to how Wonderland recently earned a place on the Lunar Kingdom's nuclear weapons hit list. He was so absorbed into his work, he didn't notice that the "in" mailbox is not only full but overfilled with letters from concerned citizens of Wonderland that are currently in Gensokyo for whatever reasons.

But he did notice that someone else has just entered his office.

"You do know that entering an embassy without the proper document will normally get you arrested or shot on sight..." The Ambassador greeted the intruder without shifting his sight away from the documents. "Don't you, Miss Hakurei?"

Miko sat down on a sofa that was meant for permitted visitors. "The total absence of armed guards is what allowed me to walk in unchallenged."

Hearing that, the Wonderlandean Ambassador took his eyes off the documents, and looked around and out of his office. "Certainly not tea time right now. Must've been an emergency recall by the RWAF."

"I can see how being named on the Lunar Kingdom's hit list can make your government very serious about their citizen's safety." Miko told the Ambassador. "However, I must say that I am surprised by Wonderland getting named at all by the Lunarian Defense Force's general..."

The Ambassador sets the documents down on his desk. "Major General Watatsuki No Yorihime is only a loyal dog of Lord Tsukuyomi Houraisan. She has authority over the Lunarian military, not the bloody government." He then takes a closer look at Miko. "But looks like you're not here to talk about the Lunar Kingdom at all. Is there something else about Wonderland that is bothering you?"

Miko stood up from the sofa. "There is, in fact..." The Rural Shrine Maiden then slowly approaches the Ambassador's desk. "But firstly, I take it that you are aware of the gang wars in Ignobilium City?"

The Wonderlandean Ambassador knows very well how to answer that. "Why wouldn't I? It's the bloody reason no ambassadors or high commissioners dared to even step foot in the capitol of the DSG." He then tenses up upon realizing the implications of Miko's questions. "Wait, did Wonderland somehow got involved with one of those gangs?"

"Not directly, but yes." Miko answered. "Last night, I've discovered that the Pakmunjeong Mafia has obtained an abnormally huge stash of Pure Crystals by 'accidental' means." The Rural Shrine Maiden continues explaining in details to the Ambassador. "This is most definitely not a coincidence, considering that Pure Crystals are not only gravely expensive even in tiny amounts, but only available in Wonderland..."

The Wonderlandean Ambassador may not be the smartest among those sharing his occupation, but he is still smart enough to quickly get the main point Miko plans to raise. "So you want to find out if the Wonderland Merchants' Department reported anything about missing stashes of Pure Crystals?"

"One of my friends has been attacked by the Pakmunjeong because of the mystery, and that is all I ask." Miko finishes her sentence.

The Ambassador spent some time thinking about what he was told, before making his reply, "This is normally not part of an ambassador's job, but I will see what I can do. Consider this a thanks for saving me and my office from the Yadoshima Syndicate's surprise Boredom Killer a year ago."

Miko stepped back and bowed to the Ambassador. "That will be all, Mr. Ambassador. My regards to the people of Wonderland." Her objective here done, the Rural Shrine Maiden then walks out of the Wonderlandean Embassy.

Moments after Miko left the Embassy, the Wonderlandean Ambassador reached for the table phone on his desk, and dialed a number on it.

"This is the Wonderlandean Embassy in the Democratic States of Gensokyo. Can you please get me the director of WISH? You see, something other than the Lunar Kingdom's nuclear experiments has just turned up, and any assistance are greatly appreciated. Thanks...

* * *

 **Afterwords**

No action scenes this time, but something else was added into the plotlines to screw with your mind even more. Namely, the Lunar Kingdom. To elaborate...

All of us knows that the Lunarians loathe Gensokyo. But most of us usually forget that they loathe the United States of America (or Registan in this case due to the story being a _Fantasy Blitzkrieg_ pseudo-prequel) a lot more.

Additionally, we all usually also forget that the USA (or Registan) isn't the only country to have planned manned missions to the moon. The Soviet Union (also known in the FBU as Malkrantia) also have plans to land men on the moon, only theirs failed. Although the latter had never landed on the moon, planning it in the first place is still enough to get them a place on the Lunar Kingdom's hit list. And let's not forget that in the present day (21st century), other countries like Japan (AKA Asahi) and China (AKA Chugoku) have also landed on the moon (although Japan's is more like a crash landing). And I'm pretty sure that sometime in the future, there will be moon landings by the United Kingdoms (AKA Bevelle) and the other countries...

You might also have noticed the fact that Wonderland has also earned a place in the Lunar Kingdom's hit list despite the two not having any previously established hostilities. Well, what do you expect from the Lunar Kingdom which American _Touhou_ fans have often compared with North Korea, as well as the fact that Wonderland tried to slap sanctions on them like the USA did North Korea? I even emphasized the first point by modeling the personality of this version of Moon-Bitch Yorihime after Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un, and the second point by describing how Wonderland is reaching the same level of military superiority as the DSG (of which the Black House is already an obvious expy of the White House).

Also to clarify something else: I have expanded on the Sanctuary concept in this chapter. Mythology Sanctuaries are Sanctuaries whose existence are based on mythologies, with two sub-classes based on whether their mythology is religious or not. Mythology Sanctuaries are also very anachronistic in technology levels, with only the Lunar Kingdom and Democratic States of Gensokyo being the few technologically advanced examples. There's also Fairy Tale Sanctuaries, whose existence are based on fairy tales or other works of fiction depicting a magical land. Fairy Tale Sanctuaries are also anachronistic, although they are roughly the same as the Outside World in technology levels. I guess I don't need to elaborate on Wonderland and Oz, both of which have been mentioned in _Fantasy Blitzkrieg: Mission Three_.

As for when the Kirisame couples exclaimed "What... On... **Gaia**...?" and Yorihime announcing victory "...over the scums of **Gaia** that are Gensokyo, Wonderland and more"... Well... I'll explain that some time in the future...

Shout-out index:

 _"...second nuclear arms test... first one...over...Tunguska..."_ \- I'm not the only one to have depicted the Tunguska meteor as an anachronistically placed literal nuclear bomb (as opposed to real life where it simply has the destructive power of a nuke), but I'm not sure how many fiction out there made the same assumption, so I'll leave it to your imaginations...

*The very concept of Fairy Tale Sanctuaries* - You would most definitely know Wonderland and Oz from the fairy tales _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_ and _The Wizard of Oz_. But because of the way I described the concept of Fairy Tale Sanctuaries, you would be right to assume that every magical world ever depicted exists in the FBU, another example of a Fairy Tale Sanctuary being Mugenri from _Len'en Project_. Again, I'll leave the rest to your imaginations...

That is all. _"Until then..."_


	7. Chapter 6: Fear Began To Spread

**Forewords**

I swear, the moment you see the ending of this story, you will **_NOT_** see Gensokyo and its native inhabitants the same way ever again.

Those of you who are Genre Savvy should have seen it coming if you remember just how grim-dark this portrayal of Gensokyo is...

You have been warned.

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Fear Began To Spread**

 _All of the Gensokyian public was thrown into turmoil, now that we have to juggle two problems simultaneously: Ignobilium City's rampant crimes and gang wars, and the Lunar Kingdom's massive nuclear arsenal ready for launch at any moment._

 _It was by that point, something else happened that finally made President Stone perform the action which the public had requested for so long: martial law to suppress Ignobilium's gangs' activities, which unfortunately came at an inappropriate time..._

 _..._

Time: 1000 Hour; 27th of December, 2067.

Location: Somewhere in Downtown Ignobilium City, Democratic States of Gensokyo.

This part of Ignobilium City is usually the busiest in the capitol of the DSG, with thousands of pedestrians walking and cars driving through it.

But today, it is rather deserted...

Ignobilium City Police Department have the entire area sealed off upon receiving an anonymous tipoff saying that a meeting will be held between the Tuskachevy Mafiya, Al-Jihad Clan, Pakmunjeong Mafia and Yadoshima Syndicate at this location. Knowing how bad things can possibly get in the presence of all four gangs at once, ICPD have decided to send an unmanned drone to watch over the meeting.

News helicopters were parked on the roof of buildings right outside the sealed off area. The reporters were not taking any chances with any firefight that might possibly break out from this meeting.

About ten minutes later, the four gangs arrived at a cross-section in the sealed-off area. Each of the four gangs bought along a dozen armed men as a precaution following the ambush their respective Negotiators have suffered.

It quickly became apparent that the meeting is not going to be a bloodless one, because the gang members immediately pointed their guns at their respective enemies.

"Give me ten reasons why I should not simply unleash a hail of bullets upon you..." The Pakmunjeong Mafia is the first to send out a representative to speak.

The Al-Jihad Clan sends out their own representative to speak. "We have only one at the moment. Apparently, your men were attempting to gather large quantities of Pure Crystals... And you have coincidentally received a huge quantity on the same day our respective Negotiators were assassinated..."

The Tuskachevy Mafiya then sends out one of their men. "However, it is also on yesterday that the Yadoshima Syndicate came back, and we all know what happened then..."

At that moment, the three gangs turned their attention (and guns) toward the Yadoshima Syndicate.

"Well, you guys don't know how to have fun." The Yadoshima representative sulked, not taking being held at gunpoint very seriously.

The Al-Jihad representative fires a shot at the spot that the Yadoshima representative is standing on. It was pretty obvious that he intentionally missed, and meant for the shot to be a warning. "Silence, you sadist."

Before anything else can be said or done, however, something was thrown into the crowd from behind the direction of the Al-Jihad Clan.

The object began to emit a series of beeps that intensifies with each passing millisecond, and only the Al-Jihad Clansmen reacted in time to avoid the big explosion that soon followed.

The big explosion had taken out every Yadoshima Syndicalist, Tuskachevy Bratok and all but one Pakmunjeong Mafioso, who is barely alive but nowhere near death.

The Al-Jihad representative looked at the aftermath of the explosion, then at his fellow Clansmen. "Which one of you threw that explosive device?"

He never got his answer. His head was blown off by a bullet that came from the second floor of a shop lot at the Pakmunjeong Mafia's direction. The same gun that fired said bullet proceeds to mow down the rest of the Al-Jihad Clansmen.

The only surviving Pakmunjeong Mafioso musters all his remaining strength to stand up. He then takes a look at whoever mowed down the Al-Jihad Clansmen.

The Mafioso could not identify the gunner, but can still see that the gun used by the gunner is a type of SMG only the Pakmunjeong Mafia have. As the surviving Mafioso is about to call out for the gunner, he suddenly vomited an abnormally large amount of black blood before collapsing again and dies for real.

Whatever that explosive device is, it apparently contained more than just pyrotechnics...

...And the ICPD's unmanned drone had the whole event recorded as a video...

...While at the same time, a silver-haired man wearing a hooded jacket watched the same thing as he stood on the roof of another shop lot.

...

Time: 1030 Hour.

People are queued up in long lines and being escorted out of downtown Igobilium City by ICPD. Nobody knows why, but everyone followed the commands anyway because the police force is doing it.

Miko came to the scene on her motorcycle as soon as possible upon being told of the evacuation by the Kirisame couple, whom were already there when the evacuation began. "What happened?"

"Something big happened..." Daisuke told the Rural Shrine Maiden. "ICPD has most of a city block sealed off in anticipation of another meeting in between Ignobilium's infamous four gangs, worried that the meeting might turn into a huge firefight."

"And they were right, ze..." Mami resumes Daisuke's sentence. "They just underestimated the outcome. Apparently, one of those turban guys..."

"The Al-Jihad Clan." Daisuke corrected.

"Right..." Mami acknowledged the correction, then resumes. "As I was saying, someone among those Al-Jihad guys threw a bomb into the middle of the meeting area, and..."

Daisuke cuts in. "...And apparently that bomb created more than a spectacular firework, because ICPD now has the entirety of downtown Ignobilium sealed off, and is evacuating everyone who lives or works in downtown."

That said, the merchant then points behind him, at a security checkpoint where armed police officers stood guard over the evacuation process. There was a long queue behind this checkpoint.

"As you can see, that's quite a lot of people to evacuate." Daisuke added.

"And our apartment is smack in the middle of it, ze." Mami complained.

Miko crossed her arms. "That is quite unfortunate. However, are the police sure that the Al-Jihad Clan is responsible or even know anything about the bombing?"

Daisuke thought of something upon hearing that question. "Now that you mentioned it... From what I heard, ICPD themselves weren't exactly sure how the Al-Jihad Clan did it either. I overheard an officer saying that 'special assistance' will be arriving within the moment..."

The merchant's answer was soon interrupted, as are the attention of the evacuees and police officers, by a strange yet familiar noise.

The source of the noise quickly presented itself... Or rather, themselves: helicopters approaching the sealed-off downtown from all directions.

However, these are not the news helicopters that Ignobilium City's inhabitants have seen too many times. These helicopters have a rectangular cockpit, wheels as landing gears, a Gatling gun attached directly underneath the cockpit, small wings with missile launchers on the port and starboard side, and a small radar dome right above the main propellers.

"Th...those are military helicopters!" Daisuke exclaimed. "What are they doing here?!"

Mami threw her arms up in the air and said. "Does it matter? We're out of a home, ze."

"Then you should find another place to temporarily live in..." Miko told the Kirisame couple. "I suggest somewhere you are familiar with."

Daisuke spent the next few seconds thinking, before coming up with an answer. "The Hakurei Shrine. That's the only place we're familiar with."

"Oh well, at least its a lot better than sleeping in the middle of the street, ze." Mami added in, throwing her arms up to indicate that she has no other choice, anyway.

...

Time: 1100 Hour.

Location: Hakurei Shrine, Human Village.

Miko's motorcycle was only made to accommodate two people, so the entire drive from downtown Ignobilium City to the Hakurei Shrine in the Human Village took a big risk when the Rural Shrine Maiden allowed both of the Kirisame couple to hitch a ride with her (in addition to the fact neither of the three wore helmets).

Upon arriving at the shrine, Mami immediately collapsed on the shrine courtyard due to the prolonged excitement. "Next time, Daisuke... Get a driving license... _and_ a bike... ze." The young magician said while breathing heavily.

Daisuke dismounted the bike just fine, "Noted, my girl..." but then he too collapsed on the ground for the same reason.

Miko shuts off the engine of the bike and dismounts it nonchalantly. "The two of you insisted on riding with me despite my warnings of overcapacity..."

The Rural Shrine Maiden is suddenly interrupted by a digital ringing.

Miko takes a few steps away as she pulls out her cellphone, which is where the ringing sound came from. "I need a moment..."

Daisuke, without getting up from the ground, raised a hand up and said, "Sure, go ahead. We'll be right here."

With that, Miko walked past the Torii gate and answered her cellphone. "This is the Hakurei shrine maiden. To whom am I speaking with?"

The Rural Shrine Maiden remained silent for the next minute, possibly paying very close attention to whoever is on the other side of the line. After about one minute, the caller hung up and Miko puts her cellphone away.

She then turns back toward the Kirisame couple. "I'm afraid I have to depart again due to an urgent matter." Miko told them, as she gets on her motorbike and starts up the engine again. "Take care of yourselves for the time being." She revs up the engine. "If you find yourselves attacked by fairies, do fight back."

With that, the Rural Shrine Maiden departed on her motorbike, leaving a trail of dust in her wake.

As soon as Miko has left, Mami got up from the ground with a grin on her face...

...Which disappeared when Daisuke also got up and told her, "She didn't state it, but I'll also make sure you don't 'borrow' anything from her shrine."

Hearing that, Mami slumped back onto the ground. "Dammit..." She muttered.

...

Location: Presidential Office, the Black House; Ignobilium City.

"Mr. President, you are the laziest world leader I've ever seen..."

Secretary Yukari Yakumo delivered her personal comment like so to President Atrius Stone, who at the moment is simply sipping a mug of coffee while reading a magazine behind his desk.

"Is that supposed to be flattery or an insult?" President Stone gave a straight response while continuing to be lazy.

Yukari sighed in disappointment before adding, "It was supposed to be a _reminder_." The presidential secretary shook her head. "Did you know that while you are here just being lazy, the governments of Wonderland and the other developed Sanctuaries are working their fingers to the bone making sure they are prepared to defend against the Lunar Kingdom?"

That didn't get the President's attention very much. "Well, there's always a diplomatic solution..." He gave a straightforward answer. "Although he _did_ reject the one meeting I requested earlier this morning..."

"Apparently, Lord Tsukiyomi's mood went bad again upon remembering that his colleague, the founder of the Lunar Kingdom as we know it, has just defected from the Lunar Kingdom..." Yukari explains, before realizing that she has left the original topic. "But my point is that you should at least be doing something for the people of the Democratic States."

"Such as?" President Stone continues to treat his secretary's point very lightly.

Yukari sighed again. "The military just came back with results from the suspected dirty-bombing of downtown by the Al-Jihad Clan..."

"Oh?" President Stone enquired with a nonchalant tone. "They're quick. The bombing happened only an hour ago..."

"This will most certainly draw your attention..." Yukari stated, feeling uneasy despite the guaranteed conversational victory for her.

"Why do you think so?" President Stone asked before taking a sip out of his coffee mug.

Yukari swallowed hard, then cleared her throat before answering, "That bomb is indeed dirty, but... Its Crimson Fever..."

That really did finally get President Stone's attention, as he pretty much spit a mouthful of coffee all over the magazine and his desk (much to Yukari's chagrin) upon hearing the answer. "Wait a minute... Crimson Fever. _THAT_ Crimson Fever?!"

"Yes..." Yukari responded with uneasiness. " _That_ Crimson Fever. A form of Scarlet Fever amplified to fatal-upon-contraction levels by the aforementioned founder of the Lunar Kingdom. The Wonderlandeans has it categorized as a bioweapon."

President Stone was left stammering there. It took him five whole minutes to recover. "Bu...bu...but how did the Al-Jihad Clan get their hands on Crimson Fever?!"

"I think they _didn't_." Yukari said. "One of the key factors to this case is that the Al-Jihad Clansmen sent there for a not-going-to-be-peaceful talk with the other three gangs including the Yadoshima Syndicate were gunned down immediately after the dirty bomb went off. I think a third party - the mysterious 'Fifth Gang', the same one said to be responsible for the simultaneous killings of the four gangs' Negotiators, is the true culprit in the bombing and gunning."

President Stone's face went pale, as he slumped against his chair. "I think it is finally time for me to do what the citizens of Ignobilium has requested for a long time..."

"Which is?" Yukari asked, despite knowing exactly what the president is talking about.

"Martial law..." President Stone answered. "With this 'Fifth Gang' marking their territory with such methods, the only possible way to keep an eye on them is martial law, and I'm going to do it for real." He gets up from his chair. "Get everything ready, I'm going to make a broadcast!"

...

Location: somewhere in central Ignobilium City.

Miko parked her motorbike in front of an alleyway, and looked into said alleyway.

"Why here, of all places...?" The Rural Shrine Maiden wondered.

"Because this is the only place where one can avoid eavesdroppers." The voice of a man suddenly spoke from behind.

Miko isn't surprised one bit, as she seemed to know the owner of the voice. "How long has it been since we last met...?" She greeted. "...Samurai of the city - Youki Konpaku."

The owner of the voice reveals himself by moving in front of Miko. He has short silver hair, wears a pair of reading glasses (that lacked lenses for some reason), a green hooded jacket with the hood down and pants with a darker green shade. He also seems to be carrying what looked like a wakizashi.

"I believe it was two years since our last meeting..." The man, Youki, answered.

"And it seems that you have not yet fully adapted yourself to the cultures of the Democratic States." Miko told the city samurai.

"Neither have you..." Youki said back.

Miko dismounted her motorbike, and folded her arms. "I at least understand that there are sealed realms other than Gensokyo..." The Rural Shrine Maiden said.

Youki raised his wakizashi, sheath included, up for Miko to see. "I always have the Roukanken to defend myself with, and take down any scums that present themselves."

Miko raises one of her hands, and pushes Roukanken down. "You also need to know that combat is no longer played out with honorific martial arts and swordsmanship. Now it is dominated by firearms and the act of un-honorific backstabs."

Youki unsheathes Roukanken for a little bit, showing the gleam of its blade to Miko. "But this is no ordinary wakizashi. Roukanken cuts with both its physical and non-corporeal forms."

Unable to think of an appropriate response, Miko just folds her arms again. "I admit defeat. But to put it simply, you are a medieval warrior in a modern world." She then remembers something. "However, this conversation is not why you called me here, no?"

Youki sheathes Roukankan and slings it over his back. "No, I asked for your presence here to tell you something about..."

Miko cuts off the city samurai. "...The supposed dirty bombing in downtown by the Al-Jihad Clan, I suppose?"

"Correct..." Youki answers the Rural Shrine Maiden. "...And incorrect. The group you refer to as the Al-Jihad Clan may be present, but they are not responsible for deploying the device you call a dirty bomb."

That got Miko curious. "Then who did?"

"Someone with neither of the four groups. I could not see the individual's face, but I am certain he does not belong to either of the four groups." Youki confirms his answer. "Said individual silently approached the Al-Jihad Clan from behind while all four groups have their attention drawn upon each other, and then..."

"And then this individual threw the dirty bomb into the crowd, and got away just as silently as he got there..." Miko figures out the rest.

However, before Miko and Youki could dig any deeper into the case, their attention are attracted by a crowd gathering in front of an electric appliance store on the opposite side of the street.

What drew the two's attention even further is that the crowds seems to be throwing around mixed opinions amongst each other.

Curious as to what the crowd is talking about, Miko and Youki went and approached them.

As it turns out, the crowd is looking at the TVs in the electronic appliance store, which at the moment is showing yet another mandatory broadcast.

Only this time, the mandatory broadcast came from the Black House itself, with President Atrius Stone.

"What does Yukari's superior have to say this time?" Miko wondered.

"Might I inquire what is happening?" Youki, not understanding modern society very well, asked.

"I will explain later. For now, stay silent and watch..." Miko told the city samurai.

And so Miko, Youki and the citizens of Ignobilium City remained silent as they watched President Stone deliver his speech.

 _"Dear people of Gensokyo, it has come to my attention that the most recent incident involving the four most infamous gangs of Ignobilium City... now truly requires my attention. I shall make this quick and simple: starting from 1800 Hour today, I shall call for assistance from the Gensokyian Army to induce martial law in Ignobilium City in order to limit the atrocious actions of the four most infamous gangs, just as the citizens of Ignobilium had long requested. Hopefully, this will eventually put an end to the gang wars once and for all."_

Hearing the president's statement, the crowd cheered, rejoiced on the fact that the Stone administration is finally doing something about the gang wars.

However, Miko frowned upon hearing that.

"What is martial law?" Youki asked, his medieval mindset not understanding the term too well.

Miko explains to the city samurai. "Martial law is, according to Yukari herself, a form of enforcement where the military is sent in to replace regular law enforcers in keeping the streets safe and clear of villains like those four gangs. I hear it is very effective at discouraging criminals from performing criminal acts."

"Then I suppose it is something good..." Youki commented.

But then Miko shook her head. "However, this one came too late to be of any use. If anything, the gangs may even use it to their advantage..."

* * *

 **Afterwords**

Now this is a surprise...

The possible "Fifth Gang" has decided to let all of Ignobilium City, including the four most infamous gangs, know that they mean business by deploying a bioweapon-laced dirty bomb in the middle of downtown Ignobilium, with said bomb tossed right into the four gang's face as they are there. _And then_ the "Fifth Gang" guns down the surviving Al-Jihad Clansmen _while_ still managing to make ICPD think Al-Jihad threw the dirty bomb (although Yukari quickly figured that one out).

But now, yet another problem arises: the bioweapon, called Crimson Fever, is apparently made by the _Lunarians_. So how the heck did the "Fifth Gang" get their hands on it?

Yes, I know "Crimson" and "Scarlet" are both fancy words for red. But I chose "Crimson" for Crimson Fever because it sounded more sinister in context.

Lord Tsukiyomi's colleague - the founder of the Lunar Kingdom as we know it, has defected. Those of you who remembers the lore of _Touhou_ should know who I'm talking about...

But for now, let's conclude this chapter ASAP. College life is not free and easy, you know.

No shout-outs in this chapter.

That is all. _"Until then..."_


End file.
